The Secret Fifth Marauder
by Little Miss Black HP
Summary: Marauders Era. Sirius turned bitter before Azkaban. Maybe things would've been different if she'd of stuck around. As close to canon as possible. Starts in 6th year. OC/S.B, J.P/L.E, R.L/E.V...Peter's still forever alone
1. Chapter I

'Can you see her yet, Prongs?' Sirius whined, peering through the crowded platform.

'Nah, not yet mate,' James replied, crumpling his hair as he noticed a bunch of 5th years peering into their carriage.

'You don't think she's left do you?' Wormtail squeaked from where he was sat with an alarmed expression.

'Don't be thick Pete,' the dark haired boy rolled his eyes 'she wrote to me last week telling me she'd see me on the train.'

'Oh...' The small mousy boy sighed, clearly offended but too scared to confront Sirius 'maybe she's just late?'

'Yea probably Worms,' James flopped down in his seat next to Peter, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket 'shall we get planning while we wait for her Sirius?'

'Don't even think about it, you knobs,' a female voice drawled from the open carriage door 'we all know its me with the best ideas anyway.' she grinned as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

'ALEXANDRIA!' Sirius roared, launching himself to the girl, pulling her into one of his customary, rib cracking hugs 'thought you were never gonna get here!'

'Hello Alex, why you so late then?' James winked at his female best friend and fellow Marauder 'we thought you'd done a runner to the other side of the world, never to return again.' he added somewhat dramatically, clutching his heart in mock anguish.

'Oh ha ha' she frowned, stowing her trunk and Hercules the owl's cage in the overhead compartment 'my dad had a last minute team meeting and seeing as I was side along apparating with him here, I tagged along and it went on a bit longer than he expected'

'Wait!' James demanded, 'YOU went to a Tornadoes meeting?'

'Obviously,' she sighed, setting herself down next to Sirius 'it's not that exciting you know, I do it all the time. Although I got to have a practice with them in the summer when their keeper was running late. They reckon I inherited my dads skills. It was awesome, I'm not gonna lie.'

'No fucking way!' Sirius butted in, impressed at the fact the girl had actually got to play with the gangs favourite Quidditch team.

'Yes way Pads. Anyway, where's Moony?' She asked, peering around the carriage expecting their werewolf friend to pop out of thin air.

'Prefect carriage,' Peter squeaked, making himself heard for the first time since Alex entered the carriage 'said he'll be along in a bit.'

'Aww' she said, pulling a hair tie from her wrist and putting her long dark hair up with it 'hope he doesn't start bitching about our grand plans again cos Hogwarts is in for a treat and half this year guys' she grinned wickedly, grabbing James' parchment while pulling a quill and ink bottle from the small bag she was carrying and proceeded to start writing their annual 'Marauders Mischief List'

xxxx

A while later, the 5th member of the gang burst into the noisy carriage, with a pretty red-head in tow.

'Sorry I'm late guys!' He sighed with a smile, perching next to Alex and pulling her in for a one armed hug 'me and Lily had some trouble with Slytherin third years. Little bastards'

At the mention of Lily's name James' head snapped round so quick it was in danger of falling off!

'Hello Lily' James grinned, like a Cheshire Cat 'good holiday?'

Startled by James' lack of arrogance and the fact he addressed her by her first name, Lily Evans paused for a good few seconds before replying, mentioning in the process that she hadn't made back friends with 'Severus' or 'Snivellus' as the Marauders liked to call him, while sitting next to Peter, who flinched as if the girl was a venomous spider.

'He's a tit anyway,' Sirius grumbled, 'I mean LOOK what he hangs round with. Little weirdos'

Lily chose to ignore Sirius' dig about her former best friend and chose to ask James about his holiday instead.

'Yea it was great, me and Sirius had a right laugh all through it' he smirked at the handsome, long haired boy who wiggled his eyebrows in response.

'Why were you at the Potters all summer Pads?' asked Peter, obviously bored with being a spectator of the conversation.

'Left home' he shrugged 'my mum went psycho when she found out I went on a date with a muggle so I told her, my dad and Reg exactly what I think about 'em all. Mr and Mrs Potter said I can live there'

An awkward silence filled the air, obviously the news had shocked the 4 that hadn't known. It was no secret Sirius despised his home life, due to his parents beliefs about blood purity, and also because of his mothers unconventional discipline choices. But it was still a surprise to learn he'd actually moved out.

'So you've not spoken to them since?' Alex asked, turning to Sirius, giving him her full attention.

'Nope. My mothers blasted me off the tapestry too' he sighed, rubbing his eyes. 'Anyway, we best get changed into our uniform, I can see the castle and I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogriff or 2!'

The rest of the journey was made in silence, everyone deep in thought over Sirius' situation, at least the Potters liked him enough to give him a home, Lily thought.

Finally the train finally pulled to a stop, Remus and Lily hurried out to assist the students on their way to the carriages. The remaining four took their time, James and Peter eventually heading out first with Alex and Sirius bringing up the rear.

'So. Alex' Sirius grinned, draping his arm over the girls shoulder,'it's my birthday next week...you got me a present?'

'Obviously Sirius, I've had it for weeks' she grinned, watching his eyes light up. Alex was probably the best present-giver the 4 male Marauders knew.

'What is it?' Sirius demanded 'can I have it now? I might need it you know.'

'No Sirius' she chuckled 'you can wait, and you most certainly won't need it now'. She grinned as she pulled away from a pouting Sirius and clambered into the carriage James and Peter were occupying.

'What if I don't like it?' Sirius demanded, climbing in behind her 'then what? Huh?'

'You'll love it so shut up. End of' she chastised, knowing full well Sirius would love the leather jacket that was wrapped at the bottom of her trunk

**A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	2. Chapter II

'I still think you should tell me' Sirius chuckled, climbing out of the carriage and heading towards the castle'a good friend would'

'How many times do I have to say no Padfoot?' Alex grumbled, overtaking him 'I don't care what kind of tactics you use, they're not gonna work on me'

Sirius sidled upto her, snaking an arm round her waist and lowering his head so his lips brushed the top of her ear, 'Oh, but they would if I tried' he whispered quietly so James and Peter, who were ahead of them wouldn't hear. Alex pulled away, and despite the evening being mild shivered, she was about to give a scathing comeback when a deep voice calling her name interrupted the faux-argument.

'Alex! Alexandria! Oi, ALEX!' Alex broke away from Sirius' teasing gaze as she spotted the familiar figure of Andrew Sanders jogging towards them 'alright Sirius' he panted when he finally caught up, 'good holiday?'

'What do you want Sanders?' Alex snapped, glaring at the tall, blonde Ravenclaw boy, while Sirius stared him down, doing a very good job of being intimidating.

'Erm I was just wondering why you didn't reply to my owls all summer?' He asked, surprised at the cold greeting he'd received 'you been busy or something?'

'Too busy for you MATE, are you really that dense?' Sirius spat, squaring up to the taller boy 'you've been told before, stay the fuck away from Alex, she doesn't need arrogant pricks like you trying to...'

'No it's ok Sirius, I've got this,' she interupped, smiling at her friend before rounding on Sanders, looking extremely menacing despite being a good 8 inches shorter than him 'I suggest you piss off back to whatever rock you crawled from and stay the hell away from me! I happen to know you and Susie broke up and I know exactly what you're playing at and it won't work, so save your energy!'

With that, she turned on her heel, pulling Sirius along by his arm

'Bet that felt good didn't it?' Sirius chuckled, releasing his arm from her pincer-like grip and throwing it over her shoulder

'Sure did' she sighed, wrapping her arm round his waist and resting her head on him 'I don't actually know who he thinks he is! Thinking he can drop me after a few months for Susie fucking Hamilton then try come crawling back once he realises how much of a bitch she actually is' her voice getting higher and higher with each word.

'Yeah, you can do better than him anyway, his loss. Now hurry up will you, I'm absolutely starving and we've got the sorting to sit through yet' as if on cue, Sirius' stomach gave an almighty growl 'see, my belly's even agreeing with me' he chuckled, hurrying her along

Alex grinned, knowing Sirius was right, she didn't need anyone like Sanders in her life, so what if he was a year older and Quidditch captain, he was still a massive slime-ball. She didn't need a boyfriend anyway, she had the 4 of the greatest, most genuine friends anyone could ask for and that plus her happiness was what really mattered. Alex smiled to herself as she entered the comfortingly familiar hall. She had the rest of her life ahead of her. Boys could wait for now.

xxxxx

'SYLTHERIN!' the Sorting Hat bellowed as at long last, the final first year had been sorted. Once the boy was seated, Dumbledore rose from his seat and the hall fell quiet immediately

'Welcome students new and old' he gestured, smiling broadly at them 'I have a few announcements I'd like to make, but that can wait until after the feast. Dig in.'

The plates upon the tables suddenly filled with piles of food, mountains of mash, heaps of chips, huge joints of meat and stews. The marauders let out an appreciative groan as they grabbed the first thing they laid their hands on, Peter stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth almost immediately.

'Oh!' James suddenly announced to the other 4 'I forgot to tell you all! Guess who's been made Quidditch captain' he grinned at the others as he produced a silver 'C' shaped badge from his pocket, holding it out so the others could have a look

'Excellent mate!' Sirius grinned, clapping James on the back 'I can't wait to get back on the pitch'

'Are we gonna have to try-out James?' Alex frowned 'I mean I know you need another beater and a chaser but are you re-forming the team altogether or...'

'Dunno' James shrugged 'haven't thought about it yet, gonna have a practice first, see who's worth keeping or not. We need to win this year, there's no way I'm letting Ravenclaw win again'

'They're going down this year' Alex muttered, scowling at the back of Sanders' head 'no doubt about it' she finished, hoping she'd be on the team.

The rest of the feast continued with talks of what lessons they were taking for N.E. and when the next full moon was out so the marauders could venture out again in their animagus forms. After Dumbledore's speech, the crowds finally made their way to their common rooms, stomachs full and brains fuzzy, noone was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

**A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex, Sanders and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	3. Chapter III

'Password?' the Fat Lady greeted them.

'Jobberknoll' Remus replied. It was handy having a friend who was a prefect, The Marauders always got to the common room first when it changed, which suited them perfectly.

'Right,' Alex yawned, 'I'm off to bed already, I'll see you an breakfast' she waved to The Marauders and made her way up the girls staircase.

'Yeah me too, night everyone' Lily mumbled, following Alex to their room. James stood, staring at Lily open-mouthed. She was perfection.

'Can we sit down here for a bit?' Peter asked, making his way over to the couch near the window

'Nah, I wanna get my stuff sorted for tomorrow, and I'm shattered' Remus sighed, stretching

'And you need your beauty sleep' Sirius winked 'but I agree with Moony, I am cream crackered'

The boys made their way upto the dormitory they all shared. Upon entering the room they found their dorm-mate, Michael already there, unpacking his belongings.

'Hi guys' he smiled when he saw them, 'good holiday?'

'Yea thanks' the marauders replied shortly, almost in unison before heading to their own beds. It wasn't that they didn't like Michael, he was a nice enough guy he just kept to himself when in the dorm, preferring to associate with two other Ravenclaw boys whom he'd been friends with since before Hogwarts.

'Oh how I've missed this bed' Sirius growled and he fell face first on top of it, fully clothed and stretched out

'Mate, go sort yourself out before you fall asleep like that' James told Sirius, remembering the last time that had happened and Sirius spent the following week complaining

'Fine' Sirius yawned, rolling off the bed, pushing his long hair out of his face. He reached into his trunk and grabbed his toothbrush and the first pair of pyjama bottoms he could find and heading off to the bathroom.

The door to the dormitory swung open with a bang, revealing Alex, dressed in a nightgown, with a pillow under her arm

'I'm sleeping in here tonight' she said, storming to the centre of the room, 'who's sharing this time?' She looked expectantly at James, Remus and Peter, who knew better than to argue with her. She may have been small, but she was pretty lethal.

'Sleep in my bed if you want Alex' James laughed, knowing full well she wouldn't sleep in either his nor Peter's bed due to the fact James was a 'bed-hog' and Peter snored like an old dog.

'I'd rather not' Alex scowled at the boy, knowing full well he was winding her up on purpose 'where's Sirius?' she asked, nodding towards his empty bed

'He's here' Sirius said lazily, strolling out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms, his toned body on show 'and you can bugger off if you think you're sharing my bed, I've been without it for 6 weeks and we'd like a night alone together'

'Looks like it's my bed then' Remus laughed and Sirius rushed to his bed and fixed the hangings with his wand so Alex couldn't enter and probably punch him 'how come you're in here anyway?' He finished, tilting his head to the side

'Mary McDonald and one of her infamous break ups has occurred. Again. It's becoming tradition you know. Ever since the third year, she's had a boyfriend over the holidays, and then they break up before she comes back to school. And we bear the brunt of her "emotional phase" when she's back!' Alex ranted, climbing into the bed Remus was stood beside 'and there's Susie who broke up with Sanders' she finished, her lip curling

'Wait, Susie and Andrew broke up?' Michael frowned 'he never told me that' He was clearly annoyed at the fact his supposed best friend failed to mention this bit of information to him.

'That's what I said didn't I? Pretty sure I didn't say it in Gobbledegook' Alex scowled in reply, loosening the beds drapes 'anyway, night losers!'

'Night' the 4 other boys replied, all in bed, ready to sleep

'So,' Remus started, emerging through the drapes and settling down beside Alex 'how do you feel about Sanders breaking up with Susie then?'

'Well I've known about it for a few weeks' she replied with a whisper, turning to look at Remus' silhouette 'he's wrote to me every fucking day since they broke up. Loser. It's obvious what's happened though' she finished with a sigh

'It is?' Remus asked, confused

'Yep, Sanders is a HUGE man whore, he gets with girls, gets what he wants from them and leaves' she explained 'so basically, he's like Sirius, but where Sirius is honest about it, Sanders pretends to be the nice guy and goes on about it. He never has a girlfriend longer than 2 months' she stated, matter-of-factly.

'You were together for 4. So is that why he ended up finishing things with you?' He asked frowning. Although Alex was perfectly capable of looking after herself, Remus, Sirius and James couldn't help but feel protective over her and would hate to see her hurt by some sleaze ball like Sanders

'No, don't be daft Remus' she snorted, evidently amused 'that's the reason we stayed together so long. He saw me as a challenge but got bored as soon as Susie started sticking her chest in his face and he reckoned she'd be an easy target. And I was right, I overheard her telling Lily that she'd "done things" with him' she snorted amused at that fact 'now he's trying to get back with me to see if he can start where he finished last time. Not a chance though' she smiled at Remus.

'Good' he nodded, wrapping his arm round her and pulling her in for a hug 'you're too good for him anyway'

'Ha, you're not the first person to say that' Alex yawned, shifting closer to Remus 'anyway I'm off to sleep. Niiiiight'

She gave Remus a customary peck on the cheek and shifted his arm to use it as a neck pillow, settled down, lodged under his arm, hers draped across his chest.

'Goodnight Alex' he murmured, kissing her forehead and giving her a gentle squeeze before drifting off himself

Chapter 3 people! Although I'd like to be more dramatic...it's too soon :3 but there will be drama

**A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex, thebother OC's and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	4. Chapter IV

'Wake up... Moony, wake up'

Remus groaned as Alex poked him in the nose.

'S'not time for lessons yet' he mumbled rolling over.

'Fine' Alex huffed, rolling out of the bed 'WAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUP' she yelled from the middle of the room, rousing the boys suddenly, who were fast asleep just seconds before.

'Merlins Beard Alex!' Sirius snapped, pulling the drapes of his bed back and sliding out, 'do you have to be so bloody noisy this time of a morning?'

'Yes, I do actually' she smiled 'anyway, chop chop you lot, I'll meet you at breakfast' she declared before grabbing her pillow and striding out to go to her own dormitory.

xxxxx

Down in the Great Hall, Alex was seated next to Lily, both tucking into a large plate of bacon and eggs, the girls were having a discussion about N.E.W.T's.

'Well, I've only dropped Divination' Lily said 'I didn't know what to drop and I think everything else is important. Don't you?'

'Erm, no not really. I've dropped three things; Astronomy, Ancient Runes and History of Magic. Doubt I'm gonna need 'em, and History of Magic needs someone with a better concentration span than me!' she laughed, before returning to her food.

Just then, the four male Marauders strolled in and made their way down to where the girls were sitting, James not taking his eyes off of Lily

'Are we a little more awake now?' Alex smiled at them all, like butter wouldn't melt. In response, Lily laughed, Sirius scowled and James made a very rude hand gesture towards Alex.

'Do that again Potter, and I'll fucking chop them off' she scowled 'and you need to work on your staring habit, poor Lily's almost got holes in her head'.

Sirius and Remus both started roaring with laughter at Alex's remark, Peter, who had a mouth full of tea almost choked

'I wasn't staring! Lily I wasn't staring at you, honestly. I was staring at...that painting behind you' James finished lamely.

Lily blushed and hid her face in the book she was carrying, choosing not to comment on the situation, no matter how amusing it was.

xxxx

After they'd had breakfast and received their schedules, the gang made their way to their first lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts.

'I wonder if the new teacher lasts longer than a year' Peter said, to nobody in particular.

'I don't know' Remus sighed, 'it is supposed to be jinxed though'.

The group was silent as they made their way into the class, sitting in threes, James, Peter and Lily at the back, Remus, Sirius and Alex in front of them. Just as they'd pulled out their textbooks, their new professor hurried in. He was in his late thirties, early forties, short and thin.

'Books away please' he called standing before the class, 'all you will need is parchment, quills and of course, your wands. Today we will be learning non-verbal spells, I'm sure you're all very new to this so please pay attention...'

As the teacher prattled on, Sirius passed a small piece of parchment to Alex, she took it and read it 'What you got me then?' sighing, Alex wrote her reply 'some frilly dress robes for the Christmas ball. You'll look beautiful!' then slid it back, Sirius frowned when he read it. A minute later, he slid it back over, 'You best be joking, or I'll throw you off the Astronomy tower' Alex snorted, she'd like to see him try! 'Theres only one way to find out. WAIT! It's only 5 bloody days Sirius. Now stop pestering, you know you're crap at non-vbl' she handed it back to Sirius

'Excuse me! Miss...?' Professor Hall snapped, spotting the exchange of notes between the two 'I suggest you start paying attention, non-verbal spells are extremely important and can potentially save your life!'

'It's Hemmingway, and yes sir, I do agree with you. It's a good job I already mastered them, and shields 2 years ago then isn't it' she finished, smiling the shocked Professor

'And how may I ask have you learnt such things?'

'My godfather is Alastor Moody' she smirked, knowing full well class was getting a show 'he likes me to be safe and thought non-verbal would come in handy, I could show you if you like?' she offered

'Very well, stand at the front of the class where everyone can see' he instructed, trying to regain the composure he'd lost trying to one-up the girl 'you will deflect the jinxes I attempt to cast at you. Don't worry, they won't be major ones'.

Alex stood at the front of the room, facing the professor.

'Ready?' he asked

'Yep' she replied, gripping her wand.

For 10 minutes, the class watched, fascinated as the professor shot spell after spell at Alex, flicked them away with an almost bored expression on her face, neither of them uttering a single word.

'Very well', the professor smiled when he was satisfied Alex was capable of handling herself 'well done Miss Hemmingway. 20 points to Gryffindor'

Alex winked at her friends as she sat down. Although she was exhausted after the demonstration

She was glad her dad was as close as he was with the top Auror.

**A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	5. Chapter V

'What have we got next?' Sirius asked as they made their way out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

'Transfiguration' Peter piped up 'can't believe I passed my O.W.L to get in'

'Course you were gonna pass Peter' James smiled, 'you're rather good if I do say so myself'

The group laughed and chatted amongst each other as they made they way to the classroom and lined up outside once they arrived. Not even a minute later, the door opened to reveal Professor McGonnagal, Transfiguration teacher, Head of Gryffindoor and Deputy Headmistress of the school. She was as terrifying as she was impressive.

'Enter' she gestured, giving each passing student the once-over.

Once settled, the class was informed that they would be studying human transfiguration for the majority of the first term. The Marauders gave each other excited glances knowing full well all of them, would ace this class, with 4 of them having become animagi the year before. Of course there was no way that they would be able to transform in front of anyone. But that didn't stop them knowing everything that needed to be known having studied it religiously for 3 years. Just then, Professor McGonnagal transformed into a tabby cat in front of them. The majority of the class burst into applause, astounded, never having seen that happen before.

'Impressive, but I bet she can't bark' Sirius whispered to James and Peter who each gave a small snort.

'Is there something amusing you three?' the Professor snapped, glaring at the boys. Peter shrunk in his seat away from the wrath of the scariest female he knew.

'No Professor' James smiled 'its was really impressive what you did, could we do it?'

'No' she said simply, before sweeping away.

When the bell rang, the class hastily grabbed their belongings, wanting to get to lunch.

'Go on without me' Alex murmured to Remus 'I need to speak with McGonnagal'

Alex made her way slowly to the front of the class, making sure it was free of stragglers before approaching the teacher, clearing her throat before approaching her.

'Professor McGonnagal, I was just wondering if you managed to have a word with Madam Pomfrey yet?'

'Miss Hemmingway, I admire your persistence' she smiled, surveying the girl 'but a student wanting to volunteer on the hospital wing is very unheard of'.

'I know Professor, but it's something I really want to do. I've been focusing better in all of my classes and I passed all my OWLs with E's and above like you said I had to before you considered asking' Alex's bottom lip was trembling at this point.

'Why do you want to do it so bad anyway? You didn't seem willing to say last time' McGonnagal remembered when Alex approached her after a messy Quidditch practice and asked. Minerva had managed to state her conditions before Alex was yelled at by Argus Filch for muddying up the corridor.

'Well Professor' Alex started, clearing her throat 'as you know, I want to be a Healer once I leave Hogwarts, and I was thinking that if I volunteer on the hospital wing, maybe Madam Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore or yourself could give me a recommendation. Places in St Mungos are very limited these days'.

'And why do you want to be a healer?' she asked softly.

'Because, as you know Professor, outside of these walls there's a war going on, and every day, innocent people are getting killed or injured by Death Eaters. I want to repair the damage them vile people do, I know it won't take it away but it'll make it better. There's people like Remus who Healers are afraid to approach because of what they are' the girls eyes were full of sincerity and the professor felt a lump forming in her throat.

'I will enquire with Poppy in the coming week, I will get back to you. That's the best I can do. Now, off you go to lunch, I'm sure your friends will be waiting' McGonnagal sighed and dismissed her.

'Thanks Professor! It means a lot and I promise I won't let anyone down'.

Alex exited the room, flashing McGonnagal a smile, which was returned briefly.

xxxxx

Alex hurried into the Great Hall and sat with her friends and Lily, eager for something to eat.

'What were you doing after class?' James demanded while Alex grabbed a sandwich.

'I'll tell you later. If it works out' she replied 'I don't wanna jinx it'

'Fair enough' he frowned 'what lesson have you got next?'

'Nothing for the rest of the day, like Sirius' she smiled at Sirius 'so I'm thinking about just lazing by the lake all day seeing as the weathers nice'.

'Well that's not fair!' James grumbled. I've still got Muggle Studies, so has Peter. Remus and Lily have Ancient Runes and you two just get to toss it off all day!'

'For your information, I'll be planning our Halloween costumes. They need a lot of work if we want to actually win the costume contest!' Alex retorted, shutting James up.

'What have you got planned this year then?' Sirius asked.

'I hope it's something better than "Kiss and their female groupie" ' Remus muttered darkly 'took ages to wash that face paint off and we looked like complete idiots!'

'Yea that face paint gave me a bad rash' Alex grimaced 'I looked like I had some funny disease or something!' Alex rubbed her smooth face, as if the rash was still upon it.

'You didn't have any face paint on Alex...' Peter frowned 'just us four did. You had normal make-up on'

Alex's face went scarlet as James head snapped up and looked from her to Sirius and back again

'So that's who you were kissing!' He exclaimed, his eyes goggling 'you said you disappeared with a Hufflepuff fourth year!'

Sirius glared at James while Alex covered her face is embarrassment.

It was true. Alex and Sirius had snuck off to the Herbology greenhouses with a bottle of Firewhisky and a packet of cigarettes to share. After too much Whisky, they'd shared a kiss or 2 before making their way back in with their friends. Alex woke up the next day with a horrible rash that was soon cleared up by madam Pomfrey.

They'd made a pact to never speak about the incident again.

'Shut up James' Alex sighed, highly embarrassed 'anyway, I'm off to go sit out in the sun. Anyone care to join me?'

'You didn't tell us your costume idea' James pointed out.

'Yea well, you'll have to wait and see' she smiled, rushing from her seat 'shall we get out of here then?'

**A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	6. Chapter VI

'The sun feels so nice' Lily sighed.

The group were all stretched out by the lake, soaking up the rays of the sun.

'Mmm' Sirius smirked 'shame you four have lessons in what? 10 minutes'

'Looks like we best make tracks then' Remus groaned as he checked his watch 'see you two at dinner?'

'Maybe' Alex smiled 'or we might just run away and never come back' she removed her sunglasses and winked at Remus.

When the others had left, Alex moved closer to where Sirius was laying and flopped on her side, facing him.

'Have you seen Regulus since we've been back?' she asked him.

'Yea. He just gave me a death glare then fucked off with his sad little friends' he sighed, bored already with the talk of his idiotic little brother who was quickly becoming a male Bellatrix 'wanna go for a walk? Or a wander in the forest?'

'I'm not going in the forest Sirius. I can't be bothered putting my shoes and socks on and don't wanna cut my feet' she grumbled 'and it creeps me out in there'

'Nothing will attack you in there Alex. And even if it did, I'd protect you' he laughed, standing up. Alex held her hands up so he could help her up.

'I don't care. The Centaurs are bloody horrible to say they look so lovely' Alex grumbled, picking her shoes and socks up and beginning to walk slowly with Sirius, linking arms with him. The duo fell into a comfortable silence as they made their way around the grounds.

xxxx

'Did you see James' face when he found out about the face paint thing' Sirius suddenly laughed.

By this time they were around the edge of the forest; the grounds empty except for a few stragglers, and the sun was slowly making its way down the horizon. Alex had put her shoes and socks back on and draped her cloak over her shoulders as the temperature dropped.

'Yes Sirius' she rolled her eyes 'I was there you know.'

'You think he's annoyed about it?'

'Why would he be? I think he's just a bit pissed that you lied to him'

'You told me to lie to him!' Sirius gasped 'so don't make out it's all my fault!'

'If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you? He's annoyed because you're meant to tell each other everything and he thinks you should have told him' Alex stated matter-of-factly 'but at least now I know you're able to keep your mouth shut' she snorted.

'Yeah, well. You told me...'

Sirius was suddenly cut off by Alex's hand firmly over his mouth.

'Shhh' she whispered, slowly drawing her wand from her robes 'can you hear that?'

Sirius shook his head and drew his own wand out, listening closely.

'Follow me' she mouthed, tip-toeing towards the forest, wand at the ready. Sirius frowned, what the fuck was she doing? He decided it was best to follow her, in case anything dangerous was making the sound.

Alex's wand lit up as she found the rough location of the noise 'Sirius, make sure nothing attacks me' she half whispered, still searching. Sirius tightened his grip on his wand, keeping his eyes peeled for anything dangerous or suspicious.

Alex suddenly gasped and dropped to the floor. Sirius darted forwards but Alex had already stood up, her hands clutching something small and wriggly to her body.

'Aww Sirius LOOK!' she squealed holding out a small, meowing kitten 'isn't it adorable!'

'Pass me it' Sirius said, his hands outstretched 'that could be a Death Eater in disguise you know! We can't take any chances!'

Sirius took the grey kitten from Alex and pointed his wand at it 'Homorphus will sort it' he muttered to the girl 'if it really is a cat, he'll be fine' a blue light came from his wand and momentarily engulfed the kitten, who scratched the boys hand meowing.

'You're paranoid' Alex muttered grabbing the kitten off Sirius 'what shall we do with it? We can't just leave it, it'll starve to death or get eaten or something'

Sirius looked at Alex, who had her bottom lip stuck out 'I've got an idea' he grinned 'hide the fluffy thing and lets get inside'

Alex fastened her cloak and re-arranged it so her hands, and more importantly, the cat were hidden, then they hurried up towards the castle.

xxxxx

'Are you gonna tell me where we're going yet?' Alex hissed, she was having great difficulty keeping the wriggling kitten concealed as they made their way through the corridors.

'Hang on woman' Sirius huffed, his eyes scanning the map 'Mischief Managed!'

He tucked the map into his pocket and ushered Alex along, satisfied they wouldn't be caught.

'We're planting him in Filch's office' he smiled 'see how much that pisses him off. Serves him right for taking Peter's copy of the map'

'Filch is awful though!' Alex hissed 'what if he kills it or stands on it accidentally?'

'Shut up Alex'

Once they were outside the door, Sirius put his hands inside Alex's cloak and grabbed the kitten who was now sleeping soundly.

'Alohamora' he muttered to the door, he turned to Alex 'keep a lookout, and say "cabbages" if anyone comes along'

He went through the door quickly, and Alex looked around. All the other students would probably be finishing their lessons by now. Then it would be dinner time. Alex wanted to keep the kitten but seeing as she already had Hercules the owl, there was no chance. And her dad was allergic.

Sirius rushed out and closed the door behind himself, tapped the lock with his wand then pulled Alex along by her hand.

'What did you do with him?' Alex asked. She hoped Filch would be nice to the kitten rather than kick it out or something

'Just put it in a box and left it on his desk, it'll be fine. C'mon, let's wait for the other in the hall' Sirius smiled, still holding Alex's hand as they made their way to the Great Hall.

xxxx

'Oi Lily! Where's Remus, James and Peter?' Sirius called to the redhead, who was sat further down the table with Marlene, Mary and Susie. Lily looked at Sirius, shrugged and went back to her conversation.

'Snotty cow' Sirius spat in Lily's direction 'she's just had a lesson with Moony for Merlin sake!'

'That doesn't mean she keeps tabs on him Sirius. Her and Marlene are actually pretty decent. Compared to Susie and Mary anyway. By the way, they're here' Alex nodded to the entrance of the hall where James, Remus and Peter had just arrived looking extremely puzzled.

'You'll never guess what's just happened' James grinned when he sat down.

'Not til you tell us' Alex sighed. Honestly, did he think they were bloody mind readers or something?

'Well, we were on our way here after class, when half my dungbombs just went off out of nowhere! Then as if on cue, Filch came skipping round the corner and practically dragged us to his office. When we got there, he had a box on his desk, and at first he got a bit suspicious, like he does the weirdo. Anyway, after a minute or two, he decides to open this box and there's a kitten in it! Well then Filch was over the moon, starts talking to it and everything. Then -with us still stood there, he just buggers off, looking for milk for it!' James looked at his two friends who just burst out laughing.

'So you got off then?' Sirius choked.

'Looks like it' he grinned.

'Yea well you're welcome' Alex laughed 'we found it on the outskirts of the forest and thought we'd piss him off. Obviously didn't work did it'

The Marauders then began to laugh at Filch and how he's a secret crazy cat man

xxxxxx

'I'm so bored!' Sirius huffed for what seemed like the thousandth time.

'So you keep saying, Padfoot' Remus rolled his eyes, 'if you're that bored, do your Defence homework like us'

'No' he scoffed 'its not due in until next week.'

The Marauders were crowded round one table. Alex and Remus were doing their homework, James was writing down new Quidditch tactics and possible training schedules while being watched by Peter and Sirius was sprawled in his chair watching them all.

After their work was done, the group packed their belongings away, ready to head for their dorms.

'Mary's still on one' Alex yawned 'I'm sleeping in your bed tonight Sirius'

'No you're not' he frowned 'sleep in Moony's bed!'

'She slept in mine last night' Remus reminded him, 'it's your turn tonight'

Sirius opened his mouth to retaliate but thought better of it. He wouldn't win when it was 2 against one. He frowned at his friends then crossed his arms in resignation 'fine' he huffed.

xxxxxx

Not even an hour later, Alex breezed into the boys' dorm, freshly showered, pillow under her arm wearing long pants and a T-shirt. She threw back the covers of Sirius' empty bed and arranged it to accommodate the two of them. Just then, Sirius emerged from the bathroom in just his pyjama bottoms, again showing off his lean body.

'Do you have to sleep half naked?' Alex asked, her eyebrow raised.

'What's up? Don't think you'll be able to resist me?' Sirius teased, climbing into the bed beside Alex, poking her in the side.

'Piss off' she laughed, giving him a playful slap 'you're all weedy and underfed'

'I am not!' Sirius gasped as Alex roared with laughter 'I've got a very good metabolism. I'm just naturally sexy' he grinned.

'Will you two shut the fuck up!' James yelled from the other side of the room 'SOME of us are trying to sleep!'

Alex snorted and she wiggled under the covers, trying to get comfortable, facing away from Sirius.

'So, Alex' Sirius whispered, putting his arm over her and scuttling closer 'you gonna tell me what my present is yet?'

'I've already told you' she replied, patting his hand 'some lovely, frilly dress robes for the Christmas ball'

'You best be joking' he scowled into the back of her head.

'Ha! I'm not' she teased 'you'll look splendid!'

Sirius was quiet as Alex shook with silent laughter. Once she eventually stopped, he spoke again.

'Alex?'

'Mmm?'

'Who are you going to the ball with?' He asked.

'Well it's over 3 months away, so no one yet. Obviously' she replied.

'Well why don't you go with me again?'

'Suppose so. Make it a new tradition' she yawned 'anyway, it's time to sleep'

She turned to Sirius and pecked him on the cheek, catching the corner of his mouth as she did so.

'Night everyone' she called to the room.

'Night Alex' came the muffled replies of the other boys.

'Night Sirius'

'Night Alex' he sighed, budging closer to the girl, touching the spot she'd just kissed.

Sirius laid there for a while, thinking just how lucky he was to have the people he had in his life. He's cherish them forever, he thought as he drifted off to sleep. He was sure the scent of Alex's coconut shampoo was making his brain fuzzy

**A/N: this was my least favourite chapter to write. Idk why. I don't think I'm portraying Alex and Sirius how they deserve to xD oh well. The story is taking a little break while I focus on projects. I'll still be thinking of ideas though! And there will be drama when I return**

**Everything belongs to JK Rowling except Alex and the storyline.**

**If you like what you're reading so far, please read and review. If you wanna keep up to date with the story, please follow :)**

**My twitter is: Jodie_Jan**


	7. Chapter VII

'Alex,'

'Mmm?'

'Wake up,' Sirius said, giving her shoulder a shake.

'No,' she groaned, pulling the covers over her head.

'Yes,'

'No,'

'Yes,'

'Bog off, Black,'

'Nope. My bed, get up,' he said, poking her.

'Noooooo. It's time to sleep,' she replied, swatting his hand away.

'Get up,' he said.

'Go away,'

'Fine,' he huffed. Alex felt the springs of the bed rise as Sirius slid out of the bed and she drifted back off to sleep. The next thing she knew, she felt a pair of hands on her ankle and a pair on her wrist as she was dragged from the warm bed onto the dormitory floor.

'YOU BASTARDS!' she shrieked, glaring up at the triumphant faces of Sirius and Peter 'you absolute fucking tossers! Get away, I hate you both,'

'Not so nice getting rudely awaken is it Alex?' Peter said 'that's revenge for yesterday morning,'

'Piss off Wormtail, I landed right on my arse bone' she replied, getting to her feet 'I'm off to go get ready, see you at breakfast'.

xxxxx

'Was that you I heard screaming just then?' Mary asked Alex as she entered the girls dormitory.

'Yeah why?'

'You sounded like you were getting murdered, that's all. What happened?'

'What's it got to do with you?' Alex snapped, grabbing her clothes and toothbrush and heading into the bathroom.

'There's no need to be rude!' Mary gasped 'come on Suzie, lets get out of here before Alex's shitty attitude rubs off on us all. Are you coming Lily?'

'No, I'm not quite ready yet' Lily replied.

'Marlene?'

'Yeah, c'mon,' Marlene said, picking up her bag and exiting the room behind the other two girls.

'They've gone now Alex!' Lily called once the others were out of earshot.

'Thank fuck for that,' Alex said, emerging from the bathroom fully dressed 'I swear down gossip counts as one of their 5-a-day,'

'What were you shouting at anyway?'

'Sirius and Peter dragged me out of bed cause I wouldn't get up,'

'Oh dear,' Lily said, trying hard not to giggle 'I take it that wasn't a pleasant start?'

'Definitely not, you ready to go to breakfast?' she asked, eager to silence her rumbling stomach.

'Yeah, I'll just get my bag from under my bed,'

Alex hated to admit it, but maybe Lily Evans wasn't half as bad as she used to be, it might be because she'd stopped hanging round with Snape; but she was actually half decent. Maybe one day, Alex might consider her a friend.

'Ready to go?' Lily asked, breaking Alex off from her thoughts.

'Yep. Off we pop,' she grinned, shouldering her bag and leaving the room

xxxxx

'Good morning, ladies.' Sirius grinned as Alex and Lily sat down on either side of Remus.

'I suggest you wipe that smirk off your face, Sirius,' Alex scowled 'I've still not forgiven you. Or Peter!'

'I only did it cause Padfoot bribed me!' Peter said while Sirius burst out laughing.

'I don't give a shit. Next time you ask me to help you with your homework I'm gonna tell you to piss right off. So you have a think about that.'

'Its alright Wormtail, I'll help you,' James said, before continuing his conversation with Lily.

The rest of the meal was spent with Alex giving Sirius and Peter dagger looks and tutting about 'no loyalty' until it was time for their first lesson.

'You two have taken Herbology, right?' Lily asked Alex and Remus.

'Yeah, double lesson now isn't it?' Remus said, rising to his feet.

'Well us three have a Care of Magical Creatures double so see you at lunch?' James gave Lily a hopeful look.

'Er yeah, I don't have anything else planned' she mumbled before leaving the Great Hall with Remus and Alex.

'Is it just me or is Evans being nice to me?' James said.

'Well she's not insulting you so that's a bonus in itself Prongs,' Peter nodded.

'Mate, just cause she's having a conversation with you, doesn't mean you're gonna get married and have babies with her', Sirius said flatly.

'We will. Just you wait and see Pads.'

xxxxx

'You cheered up yet?' James asked Alex as he sat opposite her.

'Oh yes', she said, taking a bite of a chip 'I've decided what we're doing for our Halloween costumes. And they'll be better than pirates, ghosts, gender swapping and Kiss and the groupie put together,'

'Are you gonna put us out of our misery then or are we supposed to be mind readers?' Sirius asked, impatiently.

'She's been like this since Herbology, Padfoot and she's far too happy with it. I don't trust her' Remus winced, he had visions of them all dressed as ballerinas or fairies. Or even worse, fairy ballerinas.

'Oh hush Moony, it's an amazing idea and you've all got your own characters,' Alex smiled 'are you all ready to discover my idea that is so awesome there's no way it's ever gonna be changed?'

'I've got a bad feeling about this,' Peter said 'I've got a very bad feeling indeed,' James as Sirius nodded in agreement.

'Well, I have decided, for our yearly Halloween dress up. We are going to dress up as...drumroll please...WIZARD OF OZ CHARACTERS!' Alex beamed at the boys. Sirius, James and Peter looked confused.

'Are we meant to know who the Wizards of Oz are?' Sirius asked.

'No,' Remus shook his head 'its a muggle film, and it's the most camp film I've ever seen. I'm not being Tin-Man, do you hear me?'

'Sirius is gonna be Tin-Man Moons, calm down. James will be Scarecrow; they're very similar, if you catch my drift, you're going to be Cowardly Lion and Peter's going to be Toto' Alex beamed at the boys who just gaped at her.

It was James who recovered first. 'And who are you going to be?'

'Dorothy' Remus spoke instead of Alex 'it's the only person she can be. How are you going to make our outfits may I ask?'

'With plenty of ease. I'll transfigure what I can, and get Milly to make what I can't do. Simple' she said, simply.

'I like your idea' Lily nodded 'who's Milly though?'

'My house elf,'

'You've got a house elf?' Lily gasped.

'Yep, someone had to look after me when I was little and my dad was at work,' Alex replied.

'What about your mum though?' Lily frowned.

'Oh look, time to for Potions, shall we?' Remus said quickly. Alex shot him a grateful smile as they made their way towards the door.

xxxxx

'Good afternoon class' Slughorn smiled as he approached students gathered around the classroom 'in we go then, take a seat'

The marauders rushed to their regular spot at the back of the classroom.

'No you don't, Padfoot' James held his arm out as Sirius tried sitting next to him, Lily's sitting here 'Lily! Evans! Sit next to me!'

Lily frowned and took the seat which James was patting 'I'll only sit here if Alex sits next to me' she said, raising her eyebrow.

'Sirius, you'll have to swap with Alex then' Peter called from James' other side.

'I'm not sitting at the end!' Sirius complained, 'Slughorn always checks the cauldrons at the end!'

'Oh for heavens sake!' Remus said 'I'll sit at the end, Alex can sit next to Lily and Sirius can sit between us. Honestly, you're so juvenile at times'

After the initial seat shuffle had been resolved, Slughorn had the whole class standing round different cauldrons, each varying in content. The marauders were stood round a pearl coloured potion that gave off circular puffs of smoke. Alex thought it smelled the same as what she imagined a chocolate factory would smell like.

She nudged Remus 'Doesn't it smell chocolatey?'

He nodded as he took in another lungful of it.

'No it doesn't' Sirius whispered 'it smells of coconut,'

'It smells like chocolate cake you idiot' Alex said.

'Erm, no. It smells like melted chocolate' Remus frowned.

Lily rolled her eyes 'it smells different to everyone. It's Amortentia, the worlds strongest love potion.'

'Oh yea, how silly of us for missing the obvious' Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Ah, Miss Evans, I see you're already familiar with Amortentia.' Slughorn smiled, approaching the cauldron.

'Yes. But I haven't made it or anything' Lily's face was scarlet 'just read about it,'

'Oh, very good. Care to explain to the rest of the class what it is?' everyone knew Lily was Slughorn's favourite student, and in all fairness, if you needed any help with potions, Lily was the first port of call.

'Well, it's the strongest love potion in the world, it smells different to each person and it stands out due to it's pearlescent shimmer and circle smoke'

James leant over the cauldron and sniffed 'mmm, bacon, Parma Violets and the outdoors'

Remus followed James' lead 'I can only smell chocolate' he frowned, while everyone else laughed. Typical Remus.

'I can smell food,' Peter squeaked 'bread, lasagna and chips.'

Sirius laughed and inhaled 'leather, coconut and beef stew. Mmm' he smiled and nudged Alex,'what can you smell,'

By this point, the whole class was looking over at the marauders and Lily. Alex leaned over and inhaled 'chocolate cake, vanilla and...mmm. Little boys tears,' she smirked the whole class burst out laughing, even Slughorn looked amused.

'Now, enough of that, time to show me your skills' he paused and frowned 'you're to make a Draught of the Living Death. If anyone gets it perfect, they can win this,' he produced a small vial from his robes and held it up 'Felix Felicis, otherwise known as liquid luck. Enough for 12 hours worth of good luck. I'll warn you now, nobody has managed to win this is all the years I've been teaching. Off you go'

The class descended into chaos as hands grabbed texts books, cauldrons and ingredients and started reading their instructions.

After half an hour Sirius asked 'is it supposed to go orange?' looking round at everyone else's cauldrons. Alex and James' cauldrons were full of what looked like blackcurrant juice, Peter's was black and Remus' was bright pink.

'Its supposed to be this colour, Sirius,' Lily pointed to her own cauldron which was full of a pale purple liquid.

'Well I've fucked it then haven't I?' Sirius frowned 'shall we feed it to Snape and see what it does?'

'Not funny, Black' Lily said, glaring at him.

'Joking, joking' he laughed, holding his hands up in the air.

After another half hour, Slughorn called for the class to stop and made his rounds, inspecting each cauldron as he passed.

'Almost but not quite you two' he laughed to Alex and James, who had identical potions that looked like very watery milk. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Lily 'Merlin's beard! We have an obvious winner here! Well done Miss Evans, use it well' he handed the vial to Lily who beamed and popped it in her bag.

**A/N: there we have it. Chapter 7! Sorry it took so long, I kinda lost my "mojo" so it took a while for that chapter to be pieced together. Hope it was worth the wait! :)**

**Oh a serious note, it's been brought to my attention that this story has been posted on another website. The only place I have posted this is here, and the first 3/4 chapters on my admin account on Facebook so for someone to rip it off when I put so much effort into each story is pretty insulting and I'm quite annoyed at this. Not cool, so to whoever's doing it, stop it. I really don't appreciate it **

**Thanks once again to my ****_awesome_**** beta, Charlie my "bro" and also to Georgie and Hermione for asking when I'm doing more (if you didn't, I'd forget) you're all awesome :D**

**Hopefully the wait for chapter 8 won't be as long :)**


	8. Chapter VIII

By the end of the week, The Marauders had so much homework to contend with, they were unsure if they'd ever finish it all, so Friday night saw all five of them sat round the table, working through their own pile.

'I'm losing the will to live here,' Peter groaned as he crossed out his umpteenth mistake 'Alex, help me out please?'

'You can piss right off' Alex said 'I told you the other day, I'm not helping you after you and Sirius dragged me out of bed. Besides, you'll never learn anything if you expect help from others all the time.'

'I'll help you Wormtail, I'm a nice friend' James said, grabbing Peter's homework to check while smirking at Alex.

'I'm not doing ANY work tomorrow seeing as it's my birthday' Sirius pouted.

'Wow it's your birthday tomorrow?' Remus gasped 'I'd of never have known had you not been mentioning every hour on the hour all bloody week!'

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit my friend' Sirius said, rolling up his finished assignment 'and I'm allowed to get excited. I'm 17! So legally I'm an adult'

'Shame it'll take you another 17 years to act like one then won't it?' Remus replied, frowning at his homework.

Sirius was about to retort when Lily entered the common room.

'Sirius, Ellen Rushforth is outside, she wants to talk to you' she said, before heading upto her dormitory.

'Ah, 'scuse me a minute guys' Sirius winked, heading towards the portrait hole.

'Five galleons says they're back together. And they last two months,' James said as soon as the door was closed.

'A month' Peter said 'but they have a spat halfway through.'

'Nah, they're not back together' Remus shook his head.

'Six weeks' Alex nodded 'and he dumps her for someone else. I'll write this down. Shake on it?'

They all shook hands as Sirius re-entered the common room, looking like the cat who ate the canary.

'And what did the lovely Ellen want?' James asked, knowing full well, just by Sirius' expression.

'What can I say? The badger missed the Black Magic' he winked

'What happened?' Alex asked 'have you gone through all the age appropriate girls in Hogwarts that you have to start over again?'

'All the good looking ones, yeah' he said.

'So are you back together then?' Remus asked.

'Think so'

'Well that pink lipstick certainly says so' James snorted 'suits you Pads'

'That's Remus out then' Alex said, crossing his name off the parchment 'anyway, I'd love to chat about Sirius' thrilling love life but this homework won't do itself. '

xxxxx

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SIRIUS.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!'

Sirius awoke to his four best friends standing around his bed, smiling broadly.

'Here, open mine first!' Alex thrust a soft-ish package at him.

Sirius grinned and tore off the red and gold paper to find a leather jacket, the exact same one he'd been admiring in the summer holidays.

'How did you know? You are fucking awesome Alex. Fucking awesome!' he grinned, pulling her into a hug 'I love it!'

'Us three clubbed together for this mate,' James said, handing Sirius a small, neatly wrapped package 'you can probably tell Moony wrapped it,'

Sirius looked at the gold watch, a traditional coming of age gift for all wizards and smiled.

'This is great guys. Thanks' he clapped each of them on the arm.

'Oh, my parent sent this too' James said, handing Sirius over a bottle of Firewhiskey.

'I'll send them an owl later. Can I borrow Hercules, Alex?'

'Sure' she smiled 'I'll let you guys get ready and see you in the common room. Toodles!'

xxxxx

'Have we got it all?' James asked, peering into the bag 'I don't want to forget anything'

'Well it's a bit bloody late now isn't it?' Alex said, sliding out of the one-eyed witches hump and landed beside him 'come on. We've still got the cake to get yet'

As they hurried to the kitchens, they heard voices. James grabbed Alex and ducked behind a suit of armour.

'This doors unlocked! Lets go in!' Ellen giggled.

'Ok' Sirius replied.

As soon as the door closed, Alex and James carried on their journey.

'You don't like her, do you?' James asked Alex.

'I don't dislike her, I'm just not very keen on girls as a whole.'

'Didn't you call her a "horrible jumped up tart" last year?'

'I don't remember' Alex smirked 'anyway, even if I didn't like her, I'd still be nice to her...until she gives me reason not to be.'

'Like?' James prompted.

'Like be a clingy girl'

'In what way?'

'"Oh Sirius. There's no way we can be together if you're friends with that Alex girl. Boys and girls can't be friends"' Alex mocked, in a hight pitched voice 'girls like that piss me off.'

James his head cocked to one side 'Why?'

'Whats with the twenty questions? I just don't like girls. Except Lily. She's cool.'

'She's not cool, Alex. She's perfect' James sighed.

'Yeah yeah, so we've all heard' Alex sighed, reaching out and tickling the pear on the portrait 'make this quick, remember Moony said no pissing about!'

As soon as they entered the kitchen, they were bombarded by a dozen house elves, bowing and jabbering at them excitedly.

'Miss Alex! Mister James! What can we gets you today?' one small wrinkly elf squeaked.

'We're looking for Benji actually' James said, is he about?'

'Benji is here sir' The sound came from what appeared to be a walking cream cake 'Benji hopes that this cake is good enough'

James relieved the elf of his heavy load and examined it, 'perfect!' he beamed 'Sirius is gonna love it, thanks Benji, you're an absolute star!'

'Our pleasure sir, miss' Benji smiled 'any time you needs a cake, you come see Benji, yes?'

Just then, the side door opened and in came four elves carrying a massive picnic basket.

'Benji thought that you might like this.' he said, in a somewhat smug manner.

Alex took hold of the basket and lifted the lid, her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside; every type of party food imaginable. You name it, it was there and, tucked in the corner were two large bottles.

'What's in the bottles, Benji?' she frowned.

'Elf made wine Miss. A gift to Mister Sirius from us elves' he said, bowing 'be careful though, 'tis very strong indeed!'

'We'll make sure he gets it Benji. This. All of it. It's great' James said, looking round at all the elves 'you're all fantastic! Thank you.'

The elves muttered excitedly amongst themselves at the praise they had just been given.

'Like I said,' squeaked Benji 'if you needs anything, you come see me, yes?'

'Definitely,' Alex and James said in unison.

xxxxx

'Shouldn't he be here by now?' Remus said, checking his watch.

'Well did anyone tell him the time?' Peter asked.

The boys dormitory had been transformed by Remus and Peter. Every inch was covered with red and gold streamers and balloons. A blanket in the middle of the floor held all the food and copious amounts of alcohol and Butterbeer. In the centre, was Benji's masterpiece which was now topped with 17, unlit candles. The four marauders were all gathered around the door, a party popper in their hands. The only thing missing was the birthday boy.

'I did!' James said 'I definitely said 8 o'clock. Shall I get him on the mirror?'

'Yes. Cause all this effort isn't going to waste' Remus huffed.

'Sirius Black' James said into a hand mirror.

A second later, Sirius voice came from the mirror 'what's up Prongs?'

'You're needed in our dorm. Urgent Marauder meeting. Now!'

'Can it not wait?'

'No it bloody cannot wait' James said 'now move your arse or we'll drag you kicking and screaming if you're not here in 5 minutes!'

'Ok, ok!' Sirius huffed 'make it 10 minutes,'

James tucked the pocket in the mirror and turned to the others 'said he'll be here in ten,'

'Believe it or not, we gathered' Remus muttered

'Shall we invite Lily?' Alex asked 'make it an even number.'

'Yes! And we can play spin the bottle!' James said, excitedly.

'To be fair James, there's more chance of you snogging one of the us than Lily' Peter said, snorting.

'That's rank!' Alex screwed her nose up 'back in two then.'

xxxxx

The group was sat on the floor of the dormitory, most of the food eaten and just over half of the alcohol left.

'I think I'm pissed,' Lily giggled, swaying where she sat.

'Lightweight.' Sirius snorted 'I'm not even tipsy!'

'To be fair Sirius, you've eaten half a cake and at least half your weight in food, so your stomach is well and truly lined,' Remus said, matter of factly.

'I know!' James said, getting to his feet 'Lets see who can drink a glass of red currant rum the quickest. Then we'll play spin the bottle!'

'Theres no red currant rum left,' Alex said, shaking the empty bottle 'there's either chocolate liqueur, Firewhiskey- loads of Firewhiskey actually or that wine from Benji,'

'Benji's wine. Definitely.' Peter said, 'I wanna see if it's as strong as he said!'

'Those in favour of Benji's funky wine?' Alex asked.

Everyone raised their hands, so Alex uncorked it and poured out everyone's cups right to the brim.

'Down on three!' Sirius said.

'On three or after three?' Peter asked

'After three'

'Why say on three then?'

'Shut up and down it after three Wormtail' Sirius said 'one...two...THREE'

They all downed the drink as fast as they could. Remus was first to finish, throwing his drained cup across the room 'Merlin' he gasped 'that's so sweet. I couldn't drink a lot.'

The others shortly followed, each pulling various faces.

'I thought it was nice' Lily said 'what does Remus win for finishing first?'

'Shot of Firewhiskey.' Sirius smirked, pouring one out and handing it to Remus 'down in one, old boy'

Remus downed the shot and grimaced 'my innards feel like they've got lava coursing through them.'

'It can't be that bad, Moony,' Alex frowned 'let me try!'

Sirius poured another measure and passed it to Alex, who's hand was outstretched 'same goes for you' he said 'down in one,'

Alex knocked the shot back and retched 'Oh lord. That's absolutely terrible,' she coughed 'I don't think I like Firewhiskey very much. You four have some,' she gestured towards the others. Sirius poured out four more shots and handed them to the others which they drunk immediately.

'I think I'm gonna be sick' Lily spluttered 'its not very nice is it?'

'It's not that bad to be honest' Sirius said, surveying his empty glass 'I won't let it go to waste anyway'

'Spin the bottle time?' James suggested.

'Prongs, you do realise that if we play Spin the Bottle, there's a sixty percent chance you'll end up kissing one of us three?' Remus said, pointing to himself, Sirius and Peter 'you were told that earlier'

'I never thought about that.' James wrinkled his nose.

'What about Spin the Bottle but instead of kissing, the first person who the bottle lands on picks truth or dare, then the second person has to pick their truth or dare for them?' Lily said 'it's better than the idea James had.'

'Yeah, lets do that!' Peter nodded.

'Grab a drink and form a circle then.' Alex said, picking up the chocolate liqueur and an empty bottle.

Remus sat himself on Alex's right, with Peter on his opposite side, Lily was opposite Alex, between Peter and James and Sirius was on Alex's left. Alex gave a wave of her wand and the remaining bits zoomed to the side of the room.

'Lily can be the spinner, seeing as she suggested the game' Alex said, handing over the bottle.

'Ok. Lets go shall we?' Lily set the bottle on the floor and gave it a spin. The neck of the bottle settled on herself 'I pick truth!'

'Boring!' Sirius said.

'Fine then, dare!' she spun the bottle again, which landed on Peter.

'I dare you to kiss Prongs. And not just a peck!' he grinned.

'How original, Peter' she turned to face James and pushed her lips on his. When they pulled apart, James' glasses were askew and his face was bright red. Lily spun the bottle again which landed on Alex.

'Dare' she said, without a moments hesitation.

The second spin landed on James.

'I dare you to kiss Sirius' he smirked

'I am not kissing him!'

'And what is so wrong about kissing me?!' Sirius asked, genuinely offended.

'You have a girlfriend now, that's what!' she replied 'so I'm not, no.'

'Fine then, kiss Moony instead' James said 'and like Pete said, not just a peck.'

Alex sat up on her knees and turned to face Remus, and leant her face towards his. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down, she could see every detail on his face, where each scar started and finished, his eyes, which were icy blue, sharp, and framed by thick, long eyelashes, the stubble that had grown slightly through the day, his full lips, parted slightly to accept the kiss that Alex was pressing on them now. His lips were soft, but firm as they moved in sync with hers, she rested her hand on his face as he placed his on the small of her back. From behind her, Sirius cleared his throat, Alex came back to her senses, pulled away and looked at Remus' stunned face.

'Next person, Lil.' Sirius scowled.

As Alex sat back in her place, Lily gave the bottle an almighty spin, which settled between both James and Sirius.

'Well who's is it?' James asked.

'It's exactly midway' Peter said 'maybe you should do one together?'

'I'm not kissing Prongs.' Sirius put his hands up in the air 'not a chance.'

'It's not spin the bottle Padfoot,' Remus said 'if we all agree not to make them kiss, they should do a duo-dare, yes?'

'Who said we'd pick dare anyway?' James said.

'I've known you for 6 years. I know you'll pick dare' Remus smiled

'True, spin again, Lily Flower!'

The second spin landed on Alex, a mischievous grin broke amongst her face.

'Padfoot and Prongs' she began, formally 'I dare you to both run about the school grounds. Naked,'

'How naked?' James asked, wearily.

'You're allowed shoes. That's it.'

'Deal' he said 'Padfoot?'

'I'm in. Lets go streaking Prongs' he grinned

xxxx

'Pass me your clothes' Alex said, holding her hands out.

The group was stood beside some bushes in the dark, deserted grounds, a pale light given off by half-moon. James and Sirius had just stripped and were using their bundles of clothes to protect their modesty.

'You best not run off with them!' James said 'or there'll be hell to pay'

'I won't, I promise. Now hand 'em over. And no covering your junk when you run, that defeats the purpose,'

'What, exactly is the purpose of this?' Sirius asked.

'Running round naked. So shut up and get on with it.' she snapped her fingers and took the boys clothes off them 'to the Whomping Willow and back. Go!'

Both the boys sprinted off as fast as they could, their arms waving wildly through the air.

'Lily!' James yelled 'it's not normally this small, it's just because it's cold so pay no attention!'

'He's lying, Lil!' Sirius roared.

'Here Peter, go hide these,' Lily took the clothes out of Alex's hands and pushed them into Peter's 'they'll be back in a minute, so hurry.'

Peter ran as fast as he could to the edge of the forest. Meanwhile, James and Sirius were nearing the tree, running as if they didn't have a care in the world.

'You're a cruel friend,' Remus grinned 'you said you wouldn't run off with their clothes.'

'You saw with your own eyes Moony dear, I had no part in Lily and Peter's plan. And as my witness, I expect you to back me up.' she said, nudging him.

'Someones coming, get in the fucking bush!' Remus hissed, pushing the two girls into the branches and ducking down 'can you see who it is?'

'It's too dark, but whoever is is, they've spotted James and Sirius' Lily groaned 'they won't dob us in it will they?'

'No' Alex and Remus said together.

Just then, the figure stopped and put both hands on their hips, looking right at James and Sirius.

'What on earth do you call this?' It was McGonnagall.

'Oh shit,' Alex looked horrified. This wasn't going to end well. At all.

Sirius and James came to a stop in front of the professor, their hands firmly covering their indecent areas.

'Oh hello Professor, we erm, just fancied a stroll, you know how it is' James said, as smoothly as he could, despite the fact he was only wearing a pair of shoes.

'Enough nonsense, Potter. My office. Now!'

The two boys followed the professor, hands firmly in place, looking around for their friends.

'Shall we put bets on how long they'll have detention for?' Alex asked, then she saw the look on the other twos faces 'or not.'

'Shall we check all's clear before heading back?' Remus said pulling out a piece of parchment.

'You do it, me and Lily will go look for Peter' Alex nodded

xxxxx

The door flew open and Sirius and James stormed into the dormitory. The other four were sat, nibbling on the food and drinking the rest of the alcohol. Alex was rapidly making her way through the second bottle of wine, already in her pyjamas.

'There they are!' Alex sang, getting to her feet and pulling the boys into a fierce hug 'nice to see you with clothes on.'

'And where were you?' James demanded, as Alex laughed at her own joke.

'Making sure our prefect badges weren't taken off us!' Lily said 'what's the damage, anyway?'

'Detention every Friday for a month' James sighed, sitting next to Lily, grabbing the nearest bottle of Firewhiskey and taking a huge swig.

'You were naked' Alex slurred, swaying on the spot.

'How much has she had to drink?' Sirius asked the others 'she's pissed as a fart!' He had his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to steady her, she smiled at him, her eyes slightly glazed.

'Sirius' she whispered, leaning into him. He cocked his head down so he could hear her better 'you look like Snivellus when you pull that face,'

'Oh hilarious' he muttered dryly as Alex shrieked with laughter 'go sit yourself down' he navigated her next to Remus and sat down beside her.

'Saved you some wine' she said, thrusting it at him then reaching for the chocolate liqueur.

'How kind' he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'In answer to your earlier question, quite a lot, she was dancing on the beds 5 minutes ago' Peter said. Lily and Alex had found him in the bushes round the corner from where they were hiding. He'd seen McGonnagall too.

'Who let her get this bad then?' He asked the other three.

'You know what happens when you try stopping Alex from doing what she wants' Remus shrugged 'besides, she's not hurting anyone,'

'I am here you know! I can heeeeeear you' Alex said, pointing to her ears. She stopped suddenly, 'urgh, feel sick,'

'Not in here you don't' said Sirius, as he and Remus grabbed under her arms and hurried to the bathroom and over to the toilet.

Remus pulled her hair from her face and held it as she had her head leant over the opening of the toilet, waiting for the inevitable 'This is disgusting. You've all had your arses on this bog' she groaned.

Remus looked at Sirius 'you go in there mate, I'll make sure she's alright'

'You sure?' He frowned.

Remus nodded and turned back to Alex who was heaving by now, and gave her back a rub 'you might want to ask Lily to get Alex's toothbrush though.'

'Right, I'll be back in a minute then' Sirius hurried out of the bathroom.

'Feeling better?' Remus asked Alex, who had her arms around the seat, her head rested upon them.

'No. M'dizzy' she groaned 'have I spoiled the night?'

'Of course not, if it wasn't you that got drunk it would of been Peter, and you're far easier to look after,' he laughed 'do you want some water?'

Alex nodded 'Please,'

As Remus handed her the water, Lily came in with her toothbrush.

'Are you okay?' she asked Alex, handed her the toothbrush.

Alex shook her head and groaned 'Benji wasn't lying when he said that wine was strong, the little shit' Alex stood up and clumsily made her way over to the sink and looked in the mirror, her hair was a mess, her skin was deathly pale and her eyes were bright. All down to alcohol. Alex shrugged and wet the toothbrush, you're only young once, she thought.

'I'm going to bed now anyway' Lily said 'night'

Alex gave a half-hearted waved as Remus bid her goodnight.

After she finished her teeth, Alex flopped down on the floor and curled on her side 'I've lost the ability to move, Moony,' she said, with her eyes closed 'just leave me here tonight, I'll be fine.'

'You can't stay in here,' he said 'come on' he bent down to help her up but Alex was having none of it.

'I can't move Remus. I'm not even joking' she said before falling into an alcohol induced sleep

Remus stood up and sighed. There was no way she was walking anywhere in that state. He crouched down next to her and placed one arm under her legs, and the other behind her head, lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.

'She passed out?' James asked, taking a swig of Firewhiskey. Remus nodded.

'She may aswell sleep in here tonight' he said 'there's no way any of the girls can carry her up and we can hardly get up there can we? Peter, pull the covers back, will you?'

Peter jumped up to sort the sheets out and Remus placed Alex in the bed, pulling the covers over her.

'Moony' she whispered, half asleep.

'Yeah?'

'Don't leave me' she gently took hold of his wrist and looked into his eyes.

'I'm not going anywhere. Ever' he smiled, sitting down next to her.

**A/N: as always, thank you to Charlie, who puts up with my whining the most (I'd be lost without you bro!) Hermione for all the 'lessons' :P and Georgie, for always letting me bounce ideas off you. You're all stars and totally awesomesauce 3**

**hope everyone enjoys this chapter. The first half wasn't fun to write (Charlie will tell you, I've been stressing xD) buuuut anyway, if you like it, follow me :D**

**twitter:- Jodie_Jan**


	9. Chapter VIIII

'Alex? Are you alright?' Lily's voice roused Alex from her slumber along with the gentle shake of her shoulder.

'Wha? Yer m'rite why?' she mumbled, still half asleep.

'Well it's 2PM, you've been asleep all day'

Alex opened her eyes to see Lily perched next to her on the bed. Truth was, she hadn't been sleeping all day. She hadn't gone to bed while 7AM. Last night was Remus' second transformation since they'd been back at Hogwarts, so she had been out all night with him and the other three until the watery sun started rising.

'What can I say,' Alex sat up and stretched 'I must of needed it. Good job it's a Saturday'

Lily frowned 'if you're sure... Anyway, I thought you might be hungry so I brought you a sandwich' she pointed to Alex's bedside cabinet.

'Thanks Lil,' Alex smiled, grabbing the plate 'you're a star!'

Twenty minutes later, Alex made her way to the boys dormitory where Sirius, Peter and James were still in bed, talking loudly. James scowled at Alex as she walked across the room. His cheek still injured and slightly bloody from last night.

'Don't look at me like that,' Alex said, jumping on Remus' empty bed.

'Alex, you attacked my face! How am I meant to look' James looked aghast 'you'd better hope these cuts don't get infected!'

'You bit me and it pissed me off. If you piss me off, you get pecked. Simple as' Alex sighed.

'Don't you even feel guilty Alex?' Peter asked 'you've got no visible marks as far as I can see so Prongs has come off worse'

'Shut up Wormy,' Alex threw Remus' pillow at Peters head 'I fixed my injuries, that's why. If James wasn't such a little bitch I'd of done his, too.'

'Fine, you can do them now,' James said, hopping out of bed and standing in front of Alex, who took out her wand and waved it over James' face. In the blink of an eye his wounds vanished.

'You're done. Bugger off, anyone else got anything that needs fixing?' she looked round at the other two who shook their heads 'no? I'm off to see Remus then' she hopped off the bed and bounded to the door.

'Your lover boy you mean?' Sirius snorted.

Alex turned to face Sirius, with her hand on her hip. He was facing her, propped up on his elbow, the covers round his waist, leaving his naked torso on full show and a lazy smile on his face.

'Seriously?' She rolled her eyes 'that was 6 weeks ago. Surely Ellen's not THAT boring you have to invent a non-existent love story out of one kiss? And yes, I know it's you behind the rumours, you gossip!' The door slammed behind Alex, leaving Sirius scowling at it.

'I hate to say this mate' James said 'but she's not wrong,'

'About what?' Sirius demanded.

'Your girlfriend being boring' Peter piped up, 'she's a right miserable cow'

'No she's not! Not when it's just me and her anyway. And besides, she's hot' he shrugged.

'Typical Sirius' James muttered under his breath

xxxxx

'Hey you' Alex smiled at Remus who was laid in a bed in the hospital wing 'how're you feeling?'

'As bad as I look' he said, good-naturedly.

'You do look pretty terrible' she laughed, coming through his hair with her fingers in an attempt to improve his appearance, although nothing could be done about his pale complexion 'did Madam Pomfrey say when you'd be getting out?'

'Tomorrow morning by the looks of it.' Madam Pomfrey's voice came from behind her. She bustled over to Remus, checking his temperature, pulse and pupils before recording it in a chart.

'Do you want me to get a book from the library for you?' Alex asked him.

He hated being stuck in bed doing nothing once a month, at least reading would occupy him.

'You know me too well,' he smiled.

'You get some sleep then, I'll be back in a bit, okay?'

Alex hurried out of the wing and turned towards the direction of the library.

'What a good friend' Madam Pomfrey smiled at Remus 'nice girl too,'

'Without a doubt' Remus nodded.

xxxxx

Alex was halfway to the library when she heard a girls voice behind her, calling her name. She turned to find Emmeline Vance hurrying towards her.

'Hello Emmeline' Alex sounded surprised. The two girls hasn't spoke much in the 6th years they'd spent together at Hogwarts. In fact, Alex couldn't recall having a conversation with her at all.

'Can I have a word?' she blurted 'in private.'

Alex looked around them, 'Well the corridor is deserted so I'm sure we won't be overheard here'

'True' she laughed 'sorry, this is just kind of awkward and I don't know how to put this'

Alex was extremely curious now 'just come out and say it, I've been hanging round with James and Sirius since second year, there's not many things I don't find awkward these days.'

Emmeline laughed again and ran her fingers through her strawberry blonde curls 'I just wanted to ask about you and Remus. You know, if you're a couple or not...' She stopped at the sight of Alex's face.

'Don't believe everything Sirius says, he chats shit 75 percent of the time' Alex snorted 'no, we're not a couple. We're just best friends. Why?'

Emmeline face went red, like a ripe tomato 'Well, um. Oh my goodness. I was going to ask him if he wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me on the 31st and just didn't wanna step on any toes, you know?'

Alex grinned 'do you like him?'

Emmeline nodded an gave a weak smile 'he's cute. And he has a fantastic mind.'

Typical Ravenclaw, Alex thought. Although, Moony would be best suited to someone with half a brain. He didn't seem the type to go for 'airheads' and Emmeline was decent enough.

'You should ask him tomorrow' Alex said 'he's in the hospital wing at the moment, bit under the weather.'

'Really? I hope he's ok' Emmeline's voice was sincere 'Do you think he'll say yes though?'

'Maybe, but you don't know unless you try, right?'

Emmeline nodded

'Anyway,' Alex said, 'speaking of Remus, I said I'd go get him a book, so excuse me,'

'Ok, thanks,' she smiled.

'Oh. Alex?' Alex turned to face her 'There's a book in the library called "The Hidden World" he might enjoy that'

Alex nodded 'I'll be sure to get it then. Thanks'

xxxxx

Alex strolled out of the hospital wing an hour late, heading to the Great Hall for dinner when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and was inches from Andrew Sanders' face.

'What?' she asked, irritably.

'So,' he smirked 'the rumours about you and Lupin are true.'

'Come to that conclusion by yourself did you?' she spat 'and for you information, it's not. So fuck off, I've better things to be doing with my time!'

'Ooh, tetchy. I love it when you get riled up.' he winked aggravating Alex even more.

Alex rolled her eyes and made to turn away but Sanders grabbed her wrist, preventing her from moving.

'I think' he murmured, taking a lock of Alex's hair between his fingers 'me and you should give it another go'

Alex jerked her head away and snapped 'and I think you should come down from that cloud you're on. Let me go!'

He moved his hands to Alex's face, bringing her in for a rough kiss. She pushed him away forcefully, reached for her wand and waved it between them. A split second later, Sanders' head had been replaced by a giant tentacle. He reached up to feel his head, and although he had no face to speak of, the panic was evident.

'Suits you' Alex nodded, before storming away, leaving Sanders flailing round the corridor.

xxxxx

Alex marched into the Great Hall where James, Peter, Sirius and (to Alex's annoyance) Ellen were sat and flung herself next to James.

'Who's done what now?' James asked.

Alex took a minute to compose herself and fill her plate before explaining what happened and warning Sirius that he'd have the same treatment if he didn't set the rumour straight.

'What a wanker,' James shook his head 'you should've made sure he had something rammed up his arse before you came down here.'

'Well in my opinion, it was a bit excessive' Ellen sniffed, looking at Alex like she was something the cat dragged in.

'Good job nobody asked you then isn't it, Ellen,' Alex glared at the other girl while stabbing a sausage in a particularly violent manner 'he deserved it.'

'Want me to have a word with him?' James asked.

Alex smiled and shook her head 'I'm fine, thank you.'

'We'll just thrash them next week at the match instead, yeah?'

'Without a doubt,' she nodded, putting a huge forkful of mashed potato in her mouth and looked over the table and scowled. It looked as if Sirius and Ellen were conjoined at the mouth 'can you not do that in private? You're putting people off their dinner.'

'Good idea, c'mon Ellen' Sirius said, getting to his feet and putting an arm over her shoulder before leading her out of the hall and out of sight.

'I've changed my mind. I don't like her' Alex said grabbing a chocolate muffin.

'Sirius seems to like her,' Peter said over James 'it's been 6 weeks now.'

'That means I win then doesn't it?' James said 'so you all need to pay up.'

Alex and Peter groaned and handed him five Galleons each which James pocketed with a smile on his face 'I'll get Moony's off him later.'

At the mention of Remus, Alex remembered her earlier conversation with Emmeline 'Speaking of Moony, you'll never guess what happened earlier...'

xxxxx

Alex awoke early the next morning to work some more on their Halloween costumes in the common room. Lily had asked if she could be a part if their party so Alex had said she could be the Good Witch of the North. Then of course, once Ellen heard, she'd whined to Sirius until he begged Alex to include her too. She'd make a fantastic Wicked Witch of the West. She was just adding finishing touches to Remus' Cowardly Lion costume when Remus himself walked in.

'Morning Moony' she smiled.

'Hello' he said sitting next to her 'what's this?' he held up the leg of the outfit and frowned

'Your outfit.'

'I'm the lion I take it?'

She nodded 'Sirius is Tin Man, James is Scarecrow. Quite fitting I'd say.'

'And Peter?' he asked.

Alex smirked before answering. 'Toto,'

Remus laughed 'and does he know this?'

'No' she admitted 'by the time he finds out it'll be too late anyway.'

'You're horrible, you know that?' he said, bumping shoulders with her.

'How was the book, anyway?'

'Excellent. Almost finished it. Good choice' he said.

'I didn't pick it' she admitted

'Oh?'

'Emmeline Vance said you might like it'

At the mention of her name, Remus blushed and cleared his throat 'Ah, she came to see me when you were at the library'

'And what happened, may I ask?'

'She asked me to Hogsmeade'

'And you said?' Alex prompted.

'I said I'd let her know.' he frowned

'What? Why? Emmeline's nice. And smart, and apparently she's really funny. You should say yes.' Alex said giving Remus a meaningful look 'you could do worse, you could have someone like Ellen asking you.'

'I heard that,' Sirius grumbled, walking from the direction of the boys dormitory 'I'm starving, breakfast, anyone?'

**A/N: as always, thank you to Charlie my bro and Hermione for being awesome and totally nice when I pester them like 5 times a day (And Hermione named 2 ships from the story) And Georgie, for just being awesome and letting me use Em (I know she's Canon but Georgie loves her!) **

**Oh, and thanks to everyone who's been shipping my OC ;) **

**reviews are nice *hint hint* so are follows :3**


	10. Chapter X

**A/N: see if you recognise a familiar face ;)**

'Alex!' Marlene burst in the door, already in her Quidditch robes 'we've got a problem. James said to fetch you.'

'Oh god. What's happened now?' Alex tied her hair up and ran downstairs to the common room.

In a chair, surrounded by their other teammates, looking slightly green, sat the teams seeker, Davis.

Alex knelt in front of him and peered at his face 'whats wrong? Did he get hexed?' she looked to the others who all shrugged.

'He won't talk to anyone,' Sirius said, shoving his hands in his hair 'we can't replace him either, the match starts in an hour!'

'Get back, give the boy some air!' Alex said, shooing the others away and placing her hand on the boys, 'Nick? Can you hear me?'

The boy looked at her and nodded 'I can't do this,' he whispered 'we're gonna lose.'

Alex frowned at his before she spoke 'are you serious? We had five people that tried out for your position. You were the best by a long shot, and that's why we picked you over last years seeker. So I suggest you snap out of it, get something to eat and get in the zone, okay?'

He shook his head 'everyone'll hate me when I lose. I'll never be able to show my face again.'

'No' Alex said, with an authoritative tone 'you'll stand up now, come down to breakfast and then you'll get on that pitch and kick some arse. If not, we'll make you do it. By force. Now get up.'

He got to his feet and grabbed his broom and stood up straight 'Lets do this shit!' he yelled, heading out of the door followed by Pearson and Elliot, the other two members of the team.

'How did you manage that?' James asked, shaking his head.

'Calm Balm' she grinned, holding a small tub up 'always keep it in my pockets' Sirius clapped her on the shoulder, laughing his bark-like laugh.

'Brilliant,' Marlene said'absolutely brilliant.'

'I need to grab my broom, wait there and we'll go for breakfast okay?' Alex dashed up to the dormitory, shouldered her broom and headed back downstairs.

Ravenclaw were going down today. She could feel it.

xxxxx

The team were assembled in the changing rooms, listening to James' pre match speech. The crowd outside had gathered and were as rowdy as ever.

'...so lets go out there and win this thing!' James said, finally dismissing them.

They all walked onto the pitch, staring cooly at the seven players dressed in blue as Lily announced them '...and now on come Gryffindor, with the Chasers; team captain Potter, McKinnon and Pearson. Beaters; Black and Elliot. Keeper; Hemmingway asaaaand the Seeker; Davis!' The crowd roared as both teams stood in front if each other, all 14 of them had looks of sheer determination etched upon their faces.

'Captains, shake hands' Madame Hooch barked. James glared at Sanders as he shook his hand.

'Mount you brooms. Kick off on three...one...two...THREE!'

Alex kicked off and made her way to the goal posts.

'And the balls are released! Potter grabs the Quaffle and passes to McKinnon, back to Potter, Potter drops the Quaffle, NICE CATCH PEARSON! Pearson makes his way to the Ravenclaw posts, GRYFFINDOR SCORE! Sanders has the Quaffle, is he gonna pass? Nice bludger from Black, McKinnon catches the Quaffle, pass to Potter...'

xxxx

So far, its was 80-30 to Gryffindor. Alex flew between the three posts, waiting for the Quaffle to come her way again and keeping an eye on Davis, who was zooming about, his eyes darting all over for a glimpse of the snitch. Then, Sanders flew towards her, Quaffle tucked under his arm, ready to take a shot.

'And Sanders lines up to score again, he throws, Hemmingway comes to intercept and...oh god' Lily gasped

CRUNCH! The Quaffle flew straight through Alex's outstretched arms and hit her square in the face. The force of it made it feel like her nose had collapsed in on itself. She reached her hand up to wipe off the blood but it was no use, it was like a tap, soaking the front of her robes.

'Potter! Never mind the Quaffle! Your team mate is injured you pratt! Lily yelled through the megaphone 'I'm sorry Professor, but it's...' Suddenly the red side of the pitch was roaring with delight. While Lily had been distracted, Davis had caught the snitch, sealing Gryffindor's victory 'Gryffindor win, 230 to 30' Lily called, although noone was listening.

xxxxx

'Is it broken?' Marlene asked, as soon as Alex landed next to her.

'Think so,' she winced, 'where's Madame Pomfrey?'

'Coming now,' James nodded behind Alex 'I'm sorry Alex, I didn't realise you'd been smashed in the face, I'd of put a time-out on the game or somethi-'

'Excuse me, Potter,' Madam Pomfrey pushed James out of the way made her way over to Alex and looked at her blood soaked face and tutted 'the nose I can fix, but you're going to have to live with the black eyes for a week or so.'

'You're joking!' Alex groaned as Madam Pomfrey tended to her face.

'It's ok, Alex!' Marlene said 'we can cover it with make-up!'

'Done.' Madam Pomfrey looked at Alex again, apparently satisfied with her work

'Where's Sirius?' James asked, frowning.

'McGonnagall whisked him back to the castle as soon as his feet touched the ground' Remus said, emerging from the crowd, he nodded to Alex, 'you okay?'

She nodded 'why did she take Sirius upto the castle?'

'Well,' Remus smiled, 'when Sanders' throw had you breaking your nose and everyone was watching either you or Davis, Sirius smacked a Bludger to the back of Sanders' head. Knocked him clean out'

'No way!' James laughed 'why'd he do that?'

'He saw Alex's face and decided to get even I think. He didn't look happy,' Remus shook his head 'hope he manages to worm his way out of this one.'

xxxxx

'Hurry up, we need to meet Billy!' Sirius said to Alex. They were walking down a busy street, crowded with muggles. Alex and Sirius were wearing their normal robes and people were starting to look at them funny.

'Who on earth is Billy, Sirius?' Alex said, glaring at a little boy who was staring at her. What was a kid doing out at this time anyway?

'You know Billy,' he said. Striding forward 'we need to find an alleyway to apparate from, hurry up!'

'We can't apparate! We haven't even practiced yet!' Alex hissed 'I'm not bloody splinching myself' she was jogging to keep up with him as his pace got quicker and quicker. Suddenly he stopped without warning and Alex almost crashed into him, but managed to dodge him at the last millisecond.

'This'll do,' he rubbed his hands together, surveying the alley which was hardly concealed.

'No. Someone's there,' Alex said, pointing in the shadows where she could see 3 huge figures.

'Just move!' He snapped pushing her into her into the alley and pulling out his wand.

'What's going on here?' The wide figures had emerged from their skulking place. Alex gasped when she clapped eyes on them. All three were identical, seven foot tall and as wide as Hagrid, with shiny, shaved heads and eyes full of malice.

'N-n-nothing' Alex stuttered 'Sirius, lets go.' she grabbed his arm.

'You're not going anywhere' one said, blocking their path. They were surrounded now, Alex grabbed her wand and held it in front of her. The three men laughed 'a rats tail isn't going to help you.' Alex looked at the limp, pink thing in her hand. Shit.

'Grab him!'

They all descended on Sirius, dragging him into the centre of the alley.

'NO!' She screamed, lunging forward to intervene, but she was thrown back by some invisible force. She tried again but there was no way she could get close, as if someone had cast Protego around the three men and Sirius.

'Alex!' Sirius yelled as one of the men drew something three feet long an shiny from his coat. A sword?

'Stop it!' She yelled, pounding on the invisible shield, feeling as useless as the rat tail enclosed in her fist. Around the mouth of the alley, muggles were pointing and laughing at the happenings.

'Help him!' She screamed 'they're going to kill him!'

The man held the sword aloft, as the other two pinned Sirius against the wall by his arms. He brought his arm down and thrust the sword into Sirius' abdomen.

'Alex,' he choked, looking her straight in the eye, blood trickling from his mouth 'go get help.'

Alex continued to scream and pound the enclosure with all of her might while Sirius was plunged repeatedly with the sword by the man, who was laughing manically.

'SIRIUS!' she was hysterical by now, trying with all her might to get to her best friend who kept his eyes on her, calling out every time he was struck with the sword but it was no use. She couldn't move.

'He's dead' one of the men grunted as they finally let go of Sirius and he slumped against the floor, caked in his own blood.

'Lets go then!' the one with the sword said, tucking the weapon away 'get rid of her first though' he nodded to Alex.

Slowly, the first man turned and slowly made his way towards her, hands outstretched...

xxxxx

Sirius was sat on his bed in his pyjama bottoms. Everyone else was fast asleep as he worked on his Transfiguration homework. He rubbed his eyes and checked the clock next to his bed. 2AM. He really ought to focus more on his studies rather then his girlfriend. Or he should bribe Moony to do his homework, that sounded like a better idea. He rolled up his finished essay and stuffed it in his bag along with his textbook, quill and ink bottle and shoved the bag under his bed. Behind him, the dormitory door creaked open. He sat up to see who had made the noise and saw Alex standing there in her pyjamas, her face was red, blotchy and wet with tears.

'What's wrong?' Sirius frowned standing up and making his way over to her.

Alex choked out a sob as she stood there staring at his approaching figure, making no attempt to move, not even to wipe away the fresh wave of tears that cascaded down her face.

'Alex, what's wrong?' He asked again, bringing his hand up to her face to wipe away her tears.

'Bad dream. Really bad dream' she managed to say, through quiet sobs.

'What happened?' Sirius asked in what he thought was a soft voice.

Alex face crumpled as she threw her arms around him and wept into his bare chest.

'Hey, don't cry!' he soothed, rubbing her back 'wanna get into bed and talk about it?'

Alex nodded and wiped her puffy eyes 'ok'

He guided her to the bed and climbed in next to her, propping himself up on one arm and stroking her arm with another.

'You gonna tell me what happened then?' he asked.

'In a minute,' she mumbled 'you're gonna think it's stupid.'

'It can't be that stupid if it got you so upset,' he gave her shoulder a small squeeze 'so tell me.'

Alex took a deep breath and explained what happened in her nightmare...'and then you were dead and covered in blood and then they were gonna kill me. And I just felt so helpless and it was...' she burst into tears before she could finish her sentence, visibly shaken up at the dream.

'It's wasn't real though.' he said gently, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back in a circular motion 'and if it makes you feel any better. I don't know anyone named Billy.'

Alex gave a small laugh as she rested her head on his chest 'my dad always says, if you have a dream and you tell someone about it, it doesn't come true.'

'Exactly' he whispered, resting his chin on her head. Her shaking eventually lessened and her breathing deepened, he knew she'd fallen asleep. Listening to the even rhythm, he too drifted off to sleep. Thinking about Alex. And her dream...

Alex awoke early the next morning, in the same position as she fell asleep. Her head on Sirius' chest, his arms wrapped round her. She gently pried them off her and slipped out of bed and out of the dorm to go to her own dorm to shower and get ready for breakfast.

xxxxx

Alex was sat in The Great Hall chatting with Remus and Sirius when the James and Peter walked in and sat down opposite them.

'Morning,' James yawned grabbing some orange juice 'fancy going down to the pitch for an hour later?'

'With the rest of the team or just us three?' Sirius asked.

'Either or,' James shrugged 'just thought I'd take advantage while it's not raining.

'I can't,' Alex said 'I've still got my Charms homework to do, I've not even started it yet.'

James swallowed his egg before speaking 'Well, maybe you should of done it last night instead of getting cosying up in bed with Sirius.'

Before Alex could respond Remus' fork clattered noisily onto his plate as he stared off into the far corner of the Hall. 'I'm done' he said, getting up and marching out to the hall.

Sirius raised an eyebrow 'James, don't speak. It actually suits you better.'

'Well you were cosied up in bed together!' James pouted 'I saw you both when I woke up for the loo!'

Peter nudged James 'I think what he's saying Prongs, is you've got no tact.'

'Or he's a big mouthed twat?' Alex suggested 'Honestly James, you make it sound far worse than it was.'

James raised his eyebrows 'well if I was Pads' girlfriend and I saw that, I wouldn't be happy.'

'Speak of the devil' Alex rolled her eyes as a blonde haired figure bobbed over to their table and threw herself on Sirius' lap 'I'm off to do my homework.' she gave James a pointed glare before leaving.

xxxxx

Remus peered round the library door to look for the mass of strawberry blonde curls that belonged to Emmeline Vance. He spotted her in the far corner of the room, and made his way over to her. Judging by the look on her face, she was engrossed in the book she was holding. He sat next to her and cleared his throat.

'Oh. Hello, Remus,' she smile warmly at him.

'Hi, Emmeline. Listen, I know I've taken ages to respond but. If you still want to. I would like to go to Hogsmeade. With you. Next weekend' he stammered 'only if you want to, though.'

'No no, the offer still stands,' she laughed 'that'd be great.'

Remus relaxed visibly as he let out the breath he was unaware he'd been holding.

Emmeline raised an eyebrow 'That scary, am I?'

'What? No. Of course not,' he laughed nervously 'I'm just. Not good with girls, you know?'

'Alex is a girl'

Remus laughed 'true. But she doesn't act like one.'

'Touché,' Emmeline grinned 'anyway, I'm gonna head back to my common room, Pince gives me evils when I smell the books, I'll see you around?'

'Yep. Sure' he nodded as she gathered her belongings and made her way to the door 'bye Emmeline!'

'Oh, by the way,' she paused at the door and turned round with a grin on her face. 'Its Em'

**A/N: as always thanks to Charlie and Hermione for their constant awesomeness and for alllllll their help. And also to Georgie for her input. **

**Aaaand to the people who left reviews/follow me and those who ask when the next chapter is :D. The top note is for the onwho in TGH for T.H.E xD **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, if you do, you should review/fofollow **

**Also, it all belongs to JK Rowling, bar the storyline and the OC's (if I owned it, Remus and Sirius wouldn't off died xD)**


	11. Chapter XI

"What's the plan for today then?" James asked, looking round at the others.

"Well I'm off to meet my dad in the pub with Lily," Alex said "come with if you want?"

"I'm going with Em." Remus blushed as the others made "oooh" noises.

"Me and Pete'll tag along with you two then." James nodded to Alex and Lily.

"Yeah, so will me and Ellen." Sirius said.

"I don't bloody think so Sirius! She's a pain in the arse." Alex said bluntly.

"Oi, that's my girlfriend you're talking about!" he replied angrily

"And your point is? If you had any taste I wouldn't say anything bad."

"Fine. I don't wanna come anyway" he said, crossing his arms.

"Fine" she smirked

"Fine!" James butted in and grinned when Lily laughed at him.

xxxxx

Alex entered The Three Broomsticks and looked around til she saw two familiar figures "DAD! UNCLE AL!" she squealed, running over to the two tall men and hugging them.

"Since when does Alex squeal like a girl?" Peter frowned, walking over to the table with James and Lily

"Dad, this is Lily, and you already know these two. And this is Al, my godfather" she beamed at the scarred, menacing looking man.

"Nice to meet you Lily. James, Peter" Mr Hemmingway nodded, shaking their hands, his arm still round Alex while Alastor nodded at them.

"Hi, Mr Hemmingway" Lily smiled

"Call me Dave, yeah?" he laughed "Mr Hemmingway makes me sound old. Butterbeer?"

Alex nodded and sat down next to Alastor "What's this I hear about you showing off in lessons eh?" he grinned

Alex smirked "When do I ever show off Uncle Al?"

"Well, Hall was impressed" he growled "good guy that one. Gifted"

"His lessons are pretty good actually. We're gonna be doing Patronus' soon" she said, excitedly as the other three nodded.

"What's that about patronus'?" Dave was back with drinks and handed them out "Speaking of which, mine changed a few months ago. It's a magpie now. Odd."

"That's interesting" Alex's raised her eyebrows and shot a quick look at James and Peter who were wearing similar expressions.

"Yeah. The house is surrounded by the bloody things too since you went back to school."

Alex almost choked on her butterbeer but disguised it quickly "So, where's my birthday present?" She grinned

"Technically speaking, it's not your birthday yet" Alastor said, pulling a box from his cloak and handing it over "but you can open this now if you want."

"Obviously. Thanks Uncle Al" she tore off the paper and her mouth made an "O" shape once she saw what it was "a sneakoscope. Oh my god. That's so fucking cool! Thanks"

"Oi, Alex, watch your language!"

"Sorry dad" she grinned sheepishly.

"Here's mine. Open it now and you can use it tonight. Do you boys know what you're getting yourself in for with your outfits?" He asked as he handed Alex a box.

"She won't let us see," James grimaced and ran a hand through his hair "blindfolded us while we had a fitting, the lot"

"Oooh a camera! That's perfect! Thanks dad!" She reached over to give her dad a hug

"Anytime, sweets," he said, hugging her back "send me pictures, yeah?"

"Of course" she nodded.

Alastor looked at his watch then looked up at Dave "It's time."

"Time for what?" Alex looked at the two men curiously.

"We've just got a meeting to go to." Dave smiled, standing up.

"But we just got here! Can we come?"

"It's important love. And no. You're too young" his stern look softened when he saw her face "Next time I'll stay longer I promise" he hugged her again then turned when he heard his name called.

"Alright, Dave!" A cheery voice came from behind them.

"Ah Sirius! You alright son?" Dave clapped Sirius on the shoulder "who's this then?" He asked, gesturing towards Ellen.

"My girlfriend, Ellen" he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze "fancy a quick drink?"

"Ah, erm lovely! I can't, I've gotta go now. It was nice seeing you though" he clapped him on the shoulder again and turned to Alex "I'll see you later, princess"

Alex nodded sadly as the two men left the pub "bye dad, bye Uncle Al."

Sirius nudged Ellen "go sit down with them, I'll bring some drinks over."

"Okay" she smiled, and headed over to the table.

"What?" Sirius smirked at Alex who punched him on the shoulder.

"You're a dick head." she growled and went to sit back down. As far away from Ellen as possible.

Xxxx

"OUCH!" James yelped and twitched forward "I'm sure you're doing it on purpose now, Lex!"

"Well James, if you kept bloody still it wouldn't happen, would it?"

Alex was knelt next to him, all dressed in her Dorothy outfit, making last minute adjustments.

"I feel ridiculous" Sirius groaned, walking round stiffly in his Tin-Man outfit.

"Erm hello! Look at me then!" Peter burst out "I look a fool!"

"Peter, shut it or you'll go in the basket" Alex stood up and admired her handiwork "I think we all look great!" She clapped her hands together and beamed at them all.

Remus was stood in the corner, swinging his makeshift tail about "I don't see what the fuss is, I think Alex did a good job."

"Wait til you see Lily and Ellen then" Alex grinned wickedly.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her "I don't trust that smile, what did you do?"

Before Alex could respond, a shriek could be heard from the bottom of the dormitory steps "I LOOK GHASTLY!" 10 seconds later, Ellen burst through the door and glared at Alex "you bloody planned this didn't you! I look disgusting" she wailed, stamping her foot.

Alex shrugged "you wanted in, that was the only spot available"

"You could of let me be Dorothy!" she hissed

Alex raised an eyebrow "Yeah, go get get your head checked. Like I'd plan all this just to end up looking like you. Lily, you look lovely by the way."

Lily smiled and touched her crown "I think we did good."

"Is everything set up for afterwards?" Peter asked from his bed.

"Benji's sorting it" James grinned "by the way Lily, you do look nice. Really nice."

"Erm...thanks" she smiled and looked at Alex "want me to take a picture of you five?" She offered.

Alex nodded and pulled her camera out "there's a timer so we can have a group shot."

"Okay, get in then" Lily said, looking through the lens while Ellen stood next to her, sulking "Peter you should kneel in front of them seeing as you're Toto"

Peter huffed as he got on the floor in front of Alex, who was in between Remus and Sirius, with James next to Sirius.

"Say cheese!" Lily sang.

"Cheeeeeeeeeeese!" They called in unison.

"Okay, I'll sort it for a group shot" Alex said, walking over and taking the camera from Lily "everyone get in" she fiddled with the camera and levitated it at the right height before squeezing herself in between Lily and Sirius, who had his arm round Ellen "smiiiiiiile" Alex called as the flash went off.

"I feel vile" Ellen pouted at Sirius.

"You look...fine" he nodded in what he hoped was a reassuring way "is everyone ready to go?" The group all nodded and made their way down to the common room.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEE'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD. THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ" Lily grinned as she started the song. Alex and Remus soon joined in as they were only two that knew it "WE HEAR HE IS A WHIZZ OF A WIZ, IF EVER A WIZ THERE WAS. IF EVER OH EVER A WIZ THERE WAS THE WIZARD OF OZ IS ONE BECAUSE, BECAUSE BECAUSE BECAUSE BECAUSE BECAAAAAAAAUSE...BECAUSE OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS HE DOES!"

James looked at Sirius "this is what we've been reduced to Padfoot. This"

Alex and Lily laughed as they skipped down the corridors, singing the song as loud as they could. All the way to The Great Hall.

xxxxx

"So, how did your date go?" Alex and Remus were sat as everyone else milled around The Great Hall.

"Fine. Really. It went. Great" Remus blushed

"Did you smooch?" She laughed as Remus' blush deepened and he cleared his throat "I'm gonna take that as a yes!"

"You should focus on your own love life rather than trying to worm information out of me" he said pointedly.

"Don't start that again Remus" she rolled her eyes "besides. It's not like that anymore. Honest"

"You're a bad liar Alex. I went for it, so should you"

"You went on a date. Big wow. And no, I'm not" she looked up and saw Emmeline was stood there and smiled "hey! Nice outfit! I didn't recognise you with the hair!"

"Thanks!" She grinned, smoothing down her Cinderella dress "I like yours too. I love the Wizard of Oz."

"You're coming to the party in our common room tonight, right?" Alex asked.

She nodded "Remus asked me earlier. Happy birthday for tomorrow by the way."

"Thanks. Anyway, I bet go add finishing touches. I'll see you both later!" she got up and made her way to the door.

Alex felt someone grab her wrist "Not so fast, Dorothy!" she spun round to face Sirius.

"What's up, Tin-Man" she laughed.

"Where you sneaking off to, hm?" He asked.

"Common room to finish preparations. Where's Barbie gone?" She asked, scanning the hall for the bright green Ellen.

"Gone to her common room to make herself look decent" he shrugged and threw an arm around Alex's shoulder "come on, I'll help you with the stuff."

"She'll be there a while" Alex smirked, heading out of the door.

xxxxx

"Okay, stay here and I'll get the last bits from my dorm" Alex told Sirius as she rushed up the steps.

Entering the room, she made her way over to her trunk and began to take bottles and decorations out of it.

"Shit!" she muttered, rooting through the trunk for the streamers. The door closed behind her and she spun round to see Sirius stood there "How the bloody hell did you get up here?" She demanded.

"Padfoot does what he wants," he grinned, making his way over and kneeling down next to her "what've you lost now?"

"Streamers," she muttered, continuing to root through the trunk.

"You mean these that were on the bed?" He asked, holding up a bag and shaking it.

"Yeah. I'd forget my head if it weren't screwed on" she laughed, gathering the stuff from the bed and standing up.

BANG! Alex eyes watered as her and Sirius' heads collided. "Ouch" she gasped doubling over and clutching her head.

Sirius laughed "Don't be so dramatic, it wasn't that bad!"

"Your head must be made of concrete" she groaned, standing straight and stumbled slightly.

"Easy now" he grabbed her waist to steady her. He rested one hand on her lower back as she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Must've hit my head harder than I thought" she laughed, looking down.

He brought his hand to her chin and pulled it up gently "You okay?"

She looked at him and nodded "Er. I'm fi...good. I'm fine. Yeah. I'm okay."

His hand move to cup her face and he stroked her cheek with his thumb "good" he murmured, leaning closer "don't want you passing out."

Suddenly, his lips were on hers, he pulled her closer and ran a hand down her back. She turned her head to lean into the kiss as he gently ran his tongue across her bottom lip...

The dormitory door opened and they broke apart quickly as Lily walked in "oh. There you...Sirius what on earth are you doing up here? Get out!" She put both hands on her hips and glared at him.

Sirius laughed and held his hands up in the air "calm down. I was helping Alex out. I'm off to get changed anyway" he headed to the top of the stairs and slid down them.

Lily turned to face Alex "what was that?"

Alex frowned "what was what?"

"What I just walked in on?"

"Oh. We bumped heads and he was checking I was ok" Alex half-lied.

"Mm. Ok then," she said, unconvinced "are you getting changed?"

Alex laughed and plucked her dress "yeah, somehow this isn't quite my style"

Xxxxx

It was 2am and the party was still in full swing. Alex was milling about, drinking, talking and making sure everyone had a drink. She noticed James and Peter stood in the corner and made her way over with 3 glasses and a bottle of chocolate liqueur.

"Where's Remus?" She asked, handing them a full glass each "haven't seen him in a while"

James took a drink before speaking "walking Em back to her dorm. Apparently she had a headache."

"Well. She never bloody said bye" Alex grumbled.

"Maybe because you were dancing on the table with Marlene at that point" Peter said, clutching his drink and looking round "do you reckon Sirius and Ellen's faces are conjoined now?" He nodded over at the pair who were squeezed in an armchair.

James wrinkled his nose "it looks like she's throwing up down his neck or something" he shuddered

Alex made a face of disgust and faced away from the couple "what a pleasant analogy that was, James."

James checked his watch and grinned "Hey! You're officially 17 now! Alexandra Hemmingway, the adult. Weeeeeird!"

"Does this mean I can boss you about til you're 17?" She laughed and took a drink.

"You wish, Hemmingway" he ruffled his hair "Lily's on her way over"

Lily approached the trio with a small box in her hand "I hope you don't mind, but I got you a little something for your birthday, Alex" she smiled and held the box out "it's not much."

"You didn't have to do that. But, thanks" she said as Lily handed her the box.

"Open it then" Lily laughed and took a sip of whatever she had in her hand.

Alex gave a small smile as she tore off the paper and opened the box. Inside was a small bird, it's wings were a pale green. She took it out and examined it "this is lovely Lily. Thanks."

Lily nodded "it's a hair pin. I put a charm on it to reflect your mood. So if you're angry, it'll go red, sad it'll go blue, happy, yellow and so on."

"That's impressive" James said, looking at it "and handy so we know when to avoid her."

Alex laughed at James "Yeah, things won't be so unpredictable now" she reached up and put the pin in her hair which immediately went yellow. She hugged Lily "that was really thoughtful of you. Thanks."

Lily nodded and stood with them, observing the room "Do Sirius and Ellen have to do that in public?" She frowned.

"Oi. You two!" James shouted over to them. Sirius disentangled himself from Ellen and walked over to them, grinning.

"What's up, Prongs?" He asked, his eyes bright due to alcohol.

"Wow," Alex muttered sarcastically "not surgically attached at the mouth after all."

Sirius rolled his eyes "Merlin's beard, Alex. Get a grip. It's what couples do. Not like you'd know."

Alex's hair pin turned red fast, but it was James that responded "she's right mate, it's a bit gross to see." Peter nodded in agreement.

"Fine" Sirius sighed and made his way back over to Ellen.

"Arse" Alex scowled, the wings of her clip still red.

They watched as Sirius leant over and whispered something in Ellen's ear, she pulled back and nodded at him grinning as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. The other four watched as he walked over to the boys staircase and smirked at them before heading up them, Ellen in tow.

Once they were out of sight, Alex downed her drink and grabbed the bottle "m'off for a walk"

"Want us to come?" James offered.

Alex shook her head, grabbed an extra bottle and headed out of the portrait hole.

"What time do you call this?" The Fat Lady called "I'll not let you back in you know!"

"Oh see if I give a shit!" Alex snapped, storming down the stairs and making her way to the one-eyed witch statue.

xxxxx

Remus smiled as he pulled away from Emmeline.

"I really have to go now. The others will be wondering where I am," he laughed as she yawned and nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose it is getting late." she said, rubbing her eyes and standing up from the couch in Ravenclaw common room.

Remus followed and stood by the door, she reached up and gave him a small peck on the cheek "thanks for today" she smiled "I'll see you about?"

He smiled in reply and nodded before exiting the common room and pulling the map from his pocket.

After checking the coast was clear, he set off, tapped it with his wand, muttered "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" and checked to see if his journey to his common room would involve any detours. As a prefect he couldn't be seen roaming the corridors at this time. He frowned as he saw a label on it's own, heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower. It was labelled 'Alexandra Hemmingway' he stopped and watched as the dot stopped next to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. A speech bubble popped next to it with the words "dissendium" and the next thing, the dot had vanished. He checked the common room and saw the others were all congregated in there...

Remus set back off hurriedly, making his way to where Alex had vanished. When he got there, he wiped the map and stashed it in his robes before opening the witch's hump. As soon as it was opened he climbed up, into the hole and slid down it. Upon reaching the bottom of the slide he stood up. His stomach dropped momentarily when he took in the sight around him

Sirius laid there in a pool of blood, Alex on her knees, crying and shaking. Remus shook his head. No. That wasn't right. There's no way he could have gotten from the common room to here in such a short space of time.

Without thinking, he grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled her behind him "Riddikulus!" he shouted, pointing the wand at the Boggart, which had now changed to the full moon. He conjured up a trunk and watched as the Boggart flew into it.

He stood for a second, panting slightly before turning to face Alex. "It's alright, it's not real"

Alex hurriedly wiped her eyes and nodded "can't. Believe. Stupid. Urgh. Fucking Boggarts"

Remus smiled slightly and gave her a hug "it's alright," he repeated, patting her back "what are you doing down here anyway?"

Alex pulled away "I was pissed off," she murmured "so came somewhere where noone'd disturb me"

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly "and this is the only place you could think of? Not your smartest idea, I must say."

Alex gave a small laugh "that's true. Can we go?"

Remus nodded and let her lead the way out of the statute. Once they were walking he turned to her "so. New Boggart, any reason for that?"

Alex took a swig from one of the bottles before shrugging "you know more about Boggarts than I do. You tell me."

"You know very well what I meant" he said, scanning the map.

Alex focused on the bottle instead of Remus, swirling the contents about, her eyes following the movements "well, you know. Stuff like that happens, doesn't it?"

"I've changed my mind. You're not a bad liar. You're a terrible one" he says, shoving her slightly with his shoulder and grabbing the bottle from her and taking a drink.

"Fine" she sighed "I had this dream the other week. Horrible one. It must've stemmed from that, that's all it could be"

Remus raised an eyebrow "A dream? Wanna tell me about it?"

"What, so you can interpret it or something? Nooooope" she laughed "besides, it was just a dream."

They continued the journey in a comfortable silence, the Fat Lady only let them in after Remus sweet talked her, saying how Alex was sorry and didn't mean it.

"Who's a bad liar now?" Alex smirked, walking into the common room.

Before Remus had chance to reply, James hurried over to them, looking stressed "where the fuck have you two been? Evans is rat-arsed. She can't even walk." He pointed to the corner where Lily was sat on a stool, swaying dangerously while Sirius and Peter were trying to coax her into drinking some water.

"I'll deal with her," Alex said, walking over to them and moving the two boys out of the way "hey lightweight."

Lily looked up at Alex, her eyes slightly unfocused "Alex. M'legs aren't working."

Alex snorted and grabbed the water from Sirius "here, drink this."

She pushed the glass back to Alex "no. Don't. Don't want. Don't want any water. M'fine"

"It's not water" Alex lied quickly "it's vodka! So yeah, drink it up and you'll feel great"

Lily grabbed the glass, downed it in one and thrust the glass back to Alex "m'tired. Wanna go bed."

Alex laughed and pulled Lily up, who swayed on the spot before falling, luckily Sirius caught her before any damage was done "steady on Evans!" He laughed and kept her propped up. Alex grabbed Lily's arm and put it over her shoulder.

"I'll have to half carry her" she huffed, struggling to keep Lily upright "where's the other 3?"

"Conked out upstairs" Peter shrugged.

Alex stumbled as she began walking "s'no use. She's gonna have to sleep down here or something."

James crossed his arms over his chest "she can't sleep down here on her own! She can have my bed."

Alex raised an eyebrow "and when she wakes up in the morning in your bed and hits you, what're you gonna do?"

"I'll sleep down here" he shrugged

Alex nodded "fine, I'll get her something to wear for bed, you help her upstairs."

James walked forward and picked Lily up, throwing her over his shoulder as Alex hurried up the steps to the girls dorm. The other three were indeed, fast asleep. She hurried over to Lily's trunk and pulled out some pyjamas before heading to the boys dorm.

"Just one kiss, Potter!" Lily slurred, sitting on the bed while James backed away "I know you want to."

James looked around and laughed awkwardly "maybe when you're sober."

"Party pooper" she frowned, grabbing the pyjamas Alex handed to her. The others looked away as she pulled them on clumsily and lifted the sheets back, she flopped onto the bed and dragged them back over herself "m'night" she mumbled.

Alex went to the bathroom, got a glass of water and placed it next to her "I best be off then"

"Isn't it best you stay in here?" Sirius said, looking at Lily "think she'd freak waking up in a room with us lot."

"True I'll go grab some pj's, you can argue over who gets to share" she exited the dorm, with James behind her.

"You best tell Evans I was nothing but kind to her when she sobers up!"

"I will, it was a very...noble thing you did back there" Alex smirked at him.

"Don't take the piss" he yawned as he flopped onto the biggest sofa in the common room.

"I'm not, it was a decent thing to do, giving her your bed and not taking advantage when she's drunk."

James nodded and closed his eyes "s'pose so. Anyway, night."

"Night" Alex smiled and headed up the girls staircase.

**A/N: I'm gonna try keep rambling to a minimum but I feel like I should say this: I AM SOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOO sorry! I know it's been like 3 months since I updated and I feel bad but I had epic writers block and it was meh and just yeah, I apologise. I hope this chapter is accaptable for you. So yeah, sorry again lovelies 3**

**As always, thanks to Charlie, the coolest bro ever and Hermione for the proof reading and letting me nag :D**

**Aaaand last but not least, to Georgie who harasses me til I write and post and whatnot. GOOD LUCK FOR SCHOOL TOMORROW SWEETS, LOVES YOU **

**Chapter 12 shouldn't take as long, that's all planned :)**

**Til next time, peace out!**

**P.S, Reviews are really nice xoxox**


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